Bovine anaplasmosis and babesiosis in the Lesser Antilles: risk assessment of an unstable epidemiologic situation

ABSTRACT

A seroepidemiological survey on tick-borne diseases of ruminants was carried out on 11 islands of the Lesser Antilles from Grenada to St Martin. A total of 1,795 cattle were randomly sampled and sera tested for antibodies to anaplasmosis (Anaplasma marginale) and babesiosis (Babesia bovis and B bigemina) using a dot-ELISA test. Except of anaplasmosis, which was virtually absent from Guadeloupe, the seroprevalence of the 3 tick-borne diseases ranged from 18 to 71 percent. The epidemiologic situation was considered to be unstable in all of the study sites. The risk of clinical outbreaks was high in all the islands except for B bigemina in Montsterrat and St Lucia and B bovis in St Lucia. The practical consequences in terms of tick eradication, tick control, and vaccination are discussed (Summary)