Molecular detection and characterization of Anaplasma marginale and Babesia canis vogeli infecting dogs in Luxor, Egypt.

Tick-borne diseases in animals are increasing rapidly worldwide, but there is insufficient information about tick-borne diseases infecting dogs in southern Egypt. Thus, in the current study, we detected the presence of Anaplasma marginale (A. marginale) and Babesia canis vogeli (B. canis vogeli) in the blood of dogs. The results revealed that 4/100 (4%) were positive, and a higher infection rate was found in males (75%), than females (25%). The phylogenetic analysis for the major surface protein 4 (msp4) gene in this study was compared with amplicons separate from other reported isolates with alignment by identity 100% with cattle and camels from Egypt, and the phylogenetic analysis for the B. canis vogeli small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene in this study identified identity by 99.89% with dogs from Egypt. This report is considered the first report in southern Egypt about A. marginale in dogs based on the sequence analysis of the msp4 gene, providing new data for the classification and identification of A. marginale in dogs compared to A. marginale isolated from other animals in southern Egypt.

Evaluation of Clinical and Biochemical Traits in Egyptian Barki Sheep with Different Growth Performances.

The Barki sheep industry is becoming increasingly important in Egypt because of the high quality of their meat and wool. This sheep breed is also commonly known for its resistance to arid and harsh environmental conditions. Such characteristics can be exploited in solving the problematic situation of inadequate animal protein for human consumption, particularly under climatic changes. However, very few studies have investigated aspects of breeding, nutrition, and susceptibility to infectious or non-infectious diseases in Barki sheep. Herein, we propose to unravel the differences in the clinical and biochemical profiles among Barki sheep of different growth rates. We measured clinical and biochemical parameters in stunted (n = 10; test group) and in good body condition (n = 9; control group) Barki sheep. Animals subjected to this experiment were of the same sex (female), age (12 months old), and housed in the same farm with similar conditions of feeding, management practice, and vaccination and deworming regimens. Regarding clinical examination, stunted/tested sheep showed a significantly higher pulse and respiratory rate compared to sheep with a good body condition/control group. The appetite, body temperature, and digestion processes were the same in both groups. In biochemical investigations, nutritional biomarkers were reduced markedly in stunted sheep compared with the control sheep, including total protein (p = 0.0445), albumin (p = 0.0087), cholesterol (p = 0.0007), and triglycerides (p = 0.0059). In addition, the Barki sheep test group suffered from higher levels of urea and blood urea nitrogen than the control group. Consistently, growth and thyroid hormone levels were lower in stunted sheep than the control sheep, although the differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). No significant differences were detected in both groups for serum levels of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, and zinc (p > 0.05). To detect the reasons for emaciation, certain debilitating infections were tested. All tested sheep showed negative coprological tests for gastrointestinal parasites, and had no obvious seropositivity to brucellosis, toxoplasmosis, neosporosis, or Q fever. This study demonstrates the useful biochemical markers for monitoring growth performance in Egyptian Barki sheep and unravels the usefulness of this breed in nationwide breeding and farming.