Molecular Detection and Phylogenetic Analyses of Babesia spp. and Theileria spp. in Livestock in Bangladesh

Piroplasmosis, caused by Babesia spp. and Theileria spp., poses significant constraints for livestock production and upgradation in Bangladesh. Besides examining blood smears, few molecular reports are available from some selected areas in the country. Therefore, the actual scenario of piroplasmosis in Bangladesh is deficient. This study aimed to screen the piroplasms in different livestock species by molecular tools. A total of 276 blood samples were collected from cattle (Bos indicus), gayals (Bos frontalis) and goats (Capra hircus) in five geographies of Bangladesh. After that, screening was conducted through a polymerase chain reaction, and species were confirmed by sequencing. The prevalence of Babesia bigemina, B. bovis, B. naoakii, B. ovis, Theileria annulata and T. orientalis was 49.28%, 0.72%, 1.09%, 32.26%, 6.52% and 46.01%, respectively. The highest prevalence (79/109; 72.48%) of co-infections was observed with B. bigemina and T. orientalis. The phylogenetic analyses revealed that the sequences of B. bigemina (BbigRAP-1a), B. bovis (BboSBP-4), B. naoakii (AMA-1), B. ovis (ssu rRNA) and T. annulata (Tams-1) were included in one clade in the respective phylograms. In contrast, T. orientalis (MPSP) sequences were separated into two clades, corresponding to Types 5 and 7. To our knowledge, this is the first molecular report on piroplasms in gayals and goats in Bangladesh.

Automated summary

This study screened the piroplasms in different livestock species in Bangladesh using molecular tools. It found the prevalence of Babesia bigemina, B. bovis, B. naoakii, B. ovis, Theileria annulata, and T. orientalis to be 49.28%, 0.72%, 1.09%, 32.26%, 6.52%, and 46.01%, respectively. The highest co-infection rate was observed with B. bigemina and T. orientalis. Additionally, this study provided the first molecular report on piroplasms in gayals and goats in Bangladesh.