Abstract
Introduction
Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) pose a major hindrance to livestock production in countries with limited resources. Effective prevention and management of TBDs require a thorough understanding of disease vectors and pathogens. However, there is limited information on studies of bovine tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) using molecular methods in Malawi. This study aimed to detect TBPs of cattle populations in southern Malawi, which has the largest cattle population in the country.
Methodology
A total of 220 blood samples from apparently healthy cattle were collected in six districts, and were screened for selected TBPs using polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
Results
The overall detection rate of TBPs was 72.3%. Among the detected pathogens, Babesia bigemina had the highest detection rate (34.5%), followed by Anaplasma marginale (23.2%), Anaplasma phagocytophilum (22.3%), Theileria taurotragi (22.3%), Theileria parva (15.5%), Anaplasma bovis (9.6%), Babesia bovis (7.3%), Theileria mutans (4.1%), and Babesia naoakii (2.7%). Among the positive samples, 64.2% were found to be co-infected with two or more TBPs, with the highest number of seven pathogens detected in a single sample. The study documents the existence of A. phagocytophilum, B. bovis, and B. naoakii in Malawian cattle for the first time.
Conclusion
The findings herein demonstrate a significant burden of TBPs on cattle in Malawi, which gives a challenge in combating TBDs. The high TBP burden, along with the high co-infection frequencies in Malawian cattle necessitates the urgency to implement effective control strategies to enhance cattle production in the country.
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Data availability
The data will be available on request from the corresponding authors.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Madalitso Jessie Nkhata, Vincent Kachisi, Joe Magombo, and the animal owners for the various roles played in this study.
Funding
This study was funded by the grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (18KK0188), JSPS Core-to-Core program, and Strategic International Collaborative Research Project (JPJ008837) sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan.
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Conceptualization, formal analysis, data curation, investigation, visualisation, methodology, writing original draft: Boniface Chikufenji. Writing-review and editing the original draft: Elisha Chatanga and Kyoko Hayashida. Methodology and Writing-review and editing: Uday Kumar Mohanta. Methodology and logistics: Nathan Kamanga, Eloiza May Galon, Aaron Ringo and Zhuowei Ma. Conceptualization, funding acquisition, resources, supervision, writing -review and editing: Xuenan Xuan.
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Authorization (permission ID number: DAHLD 002/2022) for sampling from cattle in the study locations was obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture Irrigation and Water Development (MoAIWD) through the Department of Animal Health and Livestock Development (DAHLD). Before sample collection, cattle owners were briefed on the significance of the activity and freely accepted to take part. Blood was collected by licensed veterinarians by following the ethical guidelines of Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido, Japan (animal experiment approval ID numbers: 22–23).
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Chikufenji, B., Mohanta, U.K., Hayashida, K. et al. Molecular detection and phylogenetic analysis of tick-borne pathogens in cattle from southern Malawi. Vet Res Commun (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-024-10395-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-024-10395-z