Parasitological, Serological and Molecular Prevalence of Trypanosoma evansi among Arabian Camels (Camelus dromedaries) with Evaluation of Antitrypanosomal Drugs.

PURPOSE: This study was carried out to assess the prevalence of Trypanosoma evansi infection in naturally diseased Dromedary camels in Dammam, Eastern region of Saudi Arabia. The detection of Trypanosoma evansi was performed using the parasitological, serological, and molecular diagnosis and a comparison between such methods were analyzed. In addition, evaluation of therapeutic efficacy of selected antitrypanosomal drugs, cymelarsan and quinapyrmine (aquin-1.5), was trialed for treatment of diagnosed infected cases. METHODS: A total 350 randomly selected camels were evaluated using thin blood smear (TBS), RoTat1.2 PCR and CATT/T. evansi techniques. RESULTS: The total prevalence was 6.9%, 7.7%, and 32.8% by TBS, RoTat1.2 PCR and CATT/T. evansi techniques, respectively. Although PCR detect T. evansi in more samples than TBS, the agreement was good (K = 0.9). Among the CATT/T. evansi results, PCR detect T. evansi in 12 and 15 CATT positive and negative camels, respectively, with low agreement (Kappa = 0.1). The use of cymelarsan and quinapyramine sulfate in the treatment of naturally infected cases demonstrated a very efficient therapeutic response. CONCLUSION: It was found that 1. Comparing the CATT/T. evansi and PCR results, the positivity of CATT was higher than PCR detection, while the agreement was poor (K = 0.1). 2. Cymelarsan and aquin-1.5 proved to be effective in the treatment of naturally infected camels, but cymelarsan presented with higher effectiveness (100%) than aquin-treated camels (83.3%). a 3. The use of cymelarsan and CATT is recommended for disease treatment and control.

Epidemiological and diagnostic investigation on bovine theileriosis in Aswan Governorate, Egypt.

The present study was carried out to investigate the epidemiological and clinical status of bovine Theileriosis in Aswan governorate. During a 2-year study, 265 cattle were clinically suspected upon careful clinical examination as Theileria annulata (T. annulata) infected animals. Conventional diagnosis based on blood and lymph smears examinations showed that, the prevalence of Tropical Theileriosis in cattle in Aswan governorate was 56 (21.13%). Stained blood smears showed the presence of macro and/or micro-schizonts inside lymphocyte (Koch's blue bodies. Intraerythrocytic stages of Theileria annulata piroplasms inside RBCs. Polymerase chain reactions of T. annulata merozoite-piroplasms surface antigen Targeting gene: (Tams-1), revealed positive 29 (58%) animals confirmed by visualization of specific bands at 768 bp. Positive results could be detected in suspected cattle that showed positive or negative blood smear results that confirmed the high sensitivity of the PCR technique compared with the conventional method for diagnosis of bovine tropical Theileriosis. PCR proved to be a highly sensitive and accurate method for diagnosis of bovine tropical theileriosis especially in the detection of samples that was negative on blood and lymph smears.

Prevalence of Filariasis in camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Upper Egypt with special reference to treatment.

The study aimed to detect the prevalence of camel filariasis in Upper Egypt, the effect of age, sex, season, locality and periodicity of sampling and treatment of infested cases and also determines the diagnostic technique for detection of the parasite. The study carried out on a total number of 350 camels (Camelus dromedarius) belonged to different Governorates in Upper Egypt including Assuit, Sohag, Asswan and El-wady El-gaded, by using the following methods for diagnosis of camel filariasis, wet blood film, thin blood film, thick blood film and concentration technique (Knott's technique). From the total number of examined camels (13 out of 350) camels were positive by blood film in percentage of 3.71%. The highest percentage of infection was recorded in El-Wady El-gaded Governorate (10.83%), hot season showed 4.96%, female more susceptible (7.79%) than male (2.56%), local breed more susceptible 5.9% while imported were 0%, samples taken at night time gave (5.59%) while day time 2.41%. 5-10 years old camels more susceptible than others and from clinically suspected camels (106) only 11 camels were positive by blood film while clinically healthy camels 244 only 2 camels were positive by blood film.

Epidemiological investigations in Sarcoptic mange in camels with special reference in treatment.

This study was conducted in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the period from (August 2019 to August 2020) to investigate the sarcoptic mange infestation level in one humped camels (Camelus dromedarius), and to assess the effect of the age and season on the mange infestation, to assess the effect of the mange infestation on the appetite and body condition score (BCS) and to develop a good an applicable treatment protocol. 250 female camels were examined clinically and parasitologically, skin scraping revealed that Sarcoptes scabiei var. cameli mite was found in 28% of the examined animals, data analysis of the selected parameters showed that there was an effect for the age and season on the mange infestation, on the other hand there was no effect for the mange infestation on the appetite and BCS. Administration of Doramectin injection and Deltamethrin spray together founded to be the best treatment protocol for the sarcoptic mange infestation in camels, this finding indicates that using the acaricides alone is not enough for the disease eradication and must combined with treatment of the contaminated environment to prevent the reinfection from surrounding arears and achieve the highest cure level.

Evaluation of indirect TaSP enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diagnosis of tropical theileriosis in cattle (Bos indicus) and water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) in Egypt.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the validity of Theileria annulata surface protein (TaSP)-ELISA, in comparison with traditional microscopic test, for the diagnosis of T. annulata infection among Egyptian baladi cattle (Bos taurus) and water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis). Molecular confirmation of infection using T. annulata merozoite surface (Tams-1) target amplification by PCR was used as a gold standard. A total of 76 clinically suspected animals including 64 baladi cattle and 12 water buffaloes were investigated in the current study by the three methods. Based on the PCR-confirmed results, the evaluation study revealed higher sensitivity of TaSP-ELISA (72.9% and 75%) as compared to microscopic examination (58.3% and 50%) among cattle and buffaloes, respectively. On the other hand, the specificity of TaSP-ELISA in diagnosis of T. annulata infection was higher (87.5%) in baladi cattle as compared to water buffaloes (37.5%). In conclusion, TaSP-ELISA was shown to be suitable for the diagnosis of T. annulata infection in cattle under field conditions.

PCR-RFLP analysis: a promising technique for host species identification of blood meals from tsetse flies (Diptera: Glossinidae).

A polymerase chain reaction with the restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method using universal primers complementary to the conserved region of the cytochrome b gene (cyt b) of the mitochondrion DNA (mtDNA) of vertebrates was applied to the identification of the origin of blood meals in tsetse flies. Blood samples from ten potential tsetse hosts of the family bovidae (cattle, water buffalo, red buffalo, waterbuck, springbok, goat, sheep, sable antelope, oryx and dik-dik) were included in this study. Sites for appropriate restriction endonucleases cuts were chosen by pairwise alignment of the amplified 359 bp fragments. A flow chart of endonucleases digestion using three restriction enzymes (e.g. TaqI, AluI and HindII) for the unequivocal identification of the respective bovid species was developed. A number of additional non-specific DNA fragments attributed to the co-amplification of cytochrome b pseudogenes were observed in some species (e.g. in red buffalo and dik-dik after digestion with AluI) but did not hamper assignment of bovid species. The detection rate of host DNA in tsetse by PCR-RFLP was 100, 80, 60 and 40% at 24, 48, 72 and 96 h after in vitro feeding, respectively. Identification of the last blood meal was possible even when tsetse had previously fed on different hosts.