Abstract

GONZALEZ-OBANDO, Juliana; HOLGUIN-ROCHA, Andrés F.  and  TOBON-CASTANO, Alberto. Diagnosis of Babesia bovis (Babesiidae) and Babesia bigemina (Babesiidae) in ticks collected from Turbo and Necoclí municipalities (Antioquia) in 2014. Actu Biol [online]. 2019, vol.41, n.111, pp.65-71. ISSN 0304-3584.  https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.acbi.v41n111a05.

Babesiosis affects mainly cattle and humans; ticks are involved in its transmission, especially Rhipicephalus microplus, widely distributed in Latin America. The diagnostic method used in ticks to determine the presence of the parasite is hemolymph microscopy, a diagnosis less sensitive than PCR, has a sensitivity between 95%-100%, and a specificity of 100%. In Colombia, regions such as Costa Atlántica, Bajo Cauca and Urabá are ecologically suitable for the presence of the parasite and the vector; the presence of ticks of the genus Dermacentor, Amblyomma and Rhipicephalus, implicated in the transmission of various pathogens of medical and veterinary interest, has been reported. The study of the dynamics of transmission by ticks is essential for the development of adequate control strategies. The main goal of this study was to identify the tick species present in livestock farms from Urabá (Colombia) and their frequency of infection by Babesia bovis and B. bigemina. 202 cattle were sampled in 30 farms from 15 localities from Turbo and Necoclí municipalities. 515 ticks were collected; the predominant species was R. microplus 98% (507/515); the presence of the genus Amblyomma was associated with neighboring farms in forested areas. The frequency of infection in 162 subsets of ticks (154 R. microplus and 8 A. cajennense) by PCR was 18.5% (30/162), 15.4% (25/162) by B. bigemina, 4.9% (8/162) by B. bovis and 1.8% (3/162) coinfection.

Keywords : babesiosis; Colombia; cattle; hemolymph; PCR.

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