Sunday 7 September 2014

Detection of natural prevalence and infection of ixodid ticks with Theileria equi in hilly equines of Palam valley (India)

4. Detection of natural prevalence and infection of ixodid ticks with Theileria equi in hilly equines of Palam valley (India) Prateek Kashyap, Aman D. Moudgil and Pallavi
Veterinary World, 7(9): 652-655


   doi: 10.14202/vetworld.2014.652-655


Prateek Kashyap: ERA and Brooke India, Equine Welfare Unit, Palampur, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India; prateekpandit0871@gmail.com
Aman D. Moudgil: Department of Veterinary Parasitology, College of Veterinary Science, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India; moudgil.aman@gmail.com
Pallavi: Division of Veterinary Public Health, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India;upadhyayapallavi.31@gmail.com
Received: 01-06-2014, Revised: 22-07-2014, Accepted: 31-07-2014. Published Online: 06-09-2014
Corresponding author: Prateek Kashyap, email: prateekpandit0871@gmail.com


Aim: The aim was to study the prevalence of tick infestation in equines of Palam valley and specific detection of Theileria equi infection in tick samples with nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based assay.
Materials and Methods: In order to study the prevalence of ixodid tick population in hilly equines and their potential role in the transmission of T. equi, a total of 74 ticks were collected from apparently healthy equines, which were then processed and identified by classical parasitological technique. The molecular techniques (nested PCR) were applied for identification of infection of T. equi.
Results: The ticks (n=74) collected from apparently healthy equines belonged mainly to three different species, of which 42 (56.75%) wereRhipicephalus microplus, whereas 16 (21.62%) were of Hyalomma species and 16 (21.62%) were of Hemaphysalis species. A total of 21 (30%) ticks were recovered from male and 53 (75.7%) from female equines. Adult equines harbored 94.6% (n=70) when compared to 5.4% (n=4) harbored by young ones. On nested PCR amplification an amplicon of 665 bp size specific for T. equi was detected in 6.75% (5/74) ticks (in 7.5% ticks recovered from a female and 4.7% from male equines).
Conclusion: Nested PCR assay resulted in significantly higher efficacy of detection of the parasite in ticks. These results clearly demonstrate the presence of equine theileriosis in hilly northern state of the country and potential roles of ticks (R. microplusHaemaphysalis andHyalomma species) in its transmission.

Keywords: equines, Himachal Pradesh, nested polymerase chain reaction, Theileria equi

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