Abstract

MARTINEZ-MERCADO, María Rebeca; CARABALLO-BLANCO, Libardo Enrique  and  BLANCO-TUIRAN, Pedro José. Babesia bigemina in cattle from the municipality of Los Palmitos (Sucre, Colombia). Cienc. Tecnol. Agropecuaria [online]. 2019, vol.20, n.1, pp.29-52. ISSN 0122-8706.  https://doi.org/10.21930/rcta.vol20_num1_art:1248.

Bovine babesiosis is a disease that usually causes losses in the livestock sector, so it is necessary to diagnose early the haemoparasite in cattle. The aim of this study was the detection, by duplex PCR, of Babesia species that are present in cattle of the municipality of Los Palmitos in the department of Sucre, Colombia. For this, a sample of 218 individuals distributed in 12 farms, between the ages of three months and nine years was studied, through blood samples that were taken and analyzed by microscopic identification in blood smears with Giemsa stain, and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with specific primers for the species Babesia bovis and B. bigemina. Three positive samples were obtained for Babesia bigemina by blood smear, corresponding to 1.4 % of the total samples; by PCR, five infected cattle were identified corresponding to 2.33 % of the total, detecting the haemoparasite B. bigemina, which corresponds to the samples identified by optical microscopy. Bovines positive for B. bigemina are asymptomatic; four of them males under two years of age, and only one female of three years of age. In Los Palmitos, B. bigemina is being actively carried by bovines, which remain as asymptomatic carriers of the infection.

Keywords : Babesia bigemina; babesiosis; PCR; Sucre (Colombia); tickborne diseases.

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