Detection of Babesia ovis in small ruminants by using microscopic and molecular techniques

The present study was planned to detect Babesia ovis (B. ovis) in naturally infected sheep and goat herds of Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh and Jhang districts of Punjab, Pakistan through microscopy and molecular diagnostic techniques i.e., PCR and nPCR. For this purpose, a total of 892 blood samples were collected i.e., sheep (n=544), goats (n=348) in both seasons (summer + winter). Initially, the samples were screened via the blood film and the blood smear examinations revealed parasite merozoites as tear drop in pair identified as babesia. The overall prevalence in summer based upon microscopic analysis was 22.05% (60/272) in sheep and 16.05% (28/174) in goat, respectively. In winter the prevalence was 7.34% (20/272) and 4.59% (8/174) in sheep and goat, respectively. In summer the results based upon PCR were 29.7% (81/272) and 23.56% (41/174) and n-PCR were 31.98% (87/272) and 27.01% (47/174) in sheep and goats respectively. On the other hand, in winter results showed that 12.13% (33/272), 9.77% (17/174) and 13.60% (37/272), 13.21% (23/174) samples positive for B. ovis through PCR and nPCR respectively. The results have shown that sensitivity of NPCR is more as compared to conventional PCR. The product size of B. ovis through PCR and NPCR was 186 base pair (bp) and 549 bp. Furthermore, the prevalence based upon different risk factors i.e., age, sex, housing, floor system, presence or absence of ticks was determined. Statistical analysis of different risk factors indicated that, increased age, non-cemented floor, closed housing, weak body condition and heavy infestation of ticks increase the incidence of disease by many folds.

Automated summary

This study aimed to detect Babesia ovis in sheep and goat herds in Pakistan using microscopy and molecular diagnostic techniques. The results showed that nPCR had higher sensitivity compared to conventional PCR, and different risk factors could affect the incidence of the disease.