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Ticks and tick-borne pathogens infecting livestock and dogs in Tchicala-Tcholoanga, Huambo Province, Angola

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Abstract

The diversity of ticks and tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) infesting domestic animals in Tchicala-Tcholoanga, Angola, in 2016 was investigated. Seventeen tick species were recorded, Amblyomma pomposum being the most abundant on cattle (40%), goats (38%) and sheep (35%); Rhipicephalus turanicus was the most abundant on dogs (46%). This study presents new records of Haemaphysalis paraleachi, R. compositus, R. kochi and R. sulcatus in Angola, the first georeferenced population of Ha. leachi in southern Africa and the second record of R. microplus in Angola. Using the reverse line blot (RLB) hybridisation assay, fifteen TBP species were detected in blood samples from cattle (n = 88), goats (n = 82), sheep (n = 85) and dogs (n = 85). F The most frequently detected species were Theileria velifera in cattle (78%), Theileria ovis in sheep (80%) and Babesia vogeli in dogs (35%). Species-specific quantitative PCR assays detected Babesia bigemina in 43% (35/80) of blood samples of cattle, while E. ruminantium was detected in 4% (3/70) of blood samples and in 7% of A. pomposum ticks. Anaplasma platys was detected from cattle (18%) and sheep (6%) during RLB analysis. These findings constitute pioneering research in Angola.

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Fig. 1

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Raw data can be provided on request.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support was provided by Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária do Huambo (GS/2016), Angola and the Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Research, University of Pretoria, South Africa (GS/UP/2016). We are grateful to Ms Milana Troskie and Ms Ilse Vorster for providing laboratory technical assistance with the reverse line blot hybridisation assay.

Funding

Finding for this research was provided by the Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária do Huambo, Angola and the Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa.

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Author notes

  1. Mamohale Chaisi

    Present address: Foundation Research and Services, South African National Biodiversity Institute, 232 Boom Street, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vectors and Vector-Borne Diseases Research Programme, Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa

    Gourgélia Sili, Charles Byaruhanga, Ivan Horak, Mamohale Chaisi, Marinda C. Oosthuizen & Luís Neves

  2. Department of Basic Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Huambo, Angola

    Gourgélia Sili

  3. National Agricultural Research Organisation, P.O. Box 259, Entebbe, Uganda

    Charles Byaruhanga

  4. Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Private Bag X05, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa

    Helena Steyn

  5. Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Av. de Moçambique Km 1.5, Maputo, Mozambique

    Luís Neves

Authors
  1. Gourgélia Sili
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  2. Charles Byaruhanga
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  4. Helena Steyn
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  5. Mamohale Chaisi
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  6. Marinda C. Oosthuizen
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Contributions

Gourgélia Sili: writing—original draft, investigation, methodology, visualisation, data curation. Charles Byaruhanga: writing—original draft, investigation, visualisation, formal analysis, methodology, data curation. Ivan Horak: resources, writing—review and editing, investigation, validation. Helena Steyn: methodology, investigation. Mamohale Chaisi: methodology, investigation, writing—review and editing. Marinda C. Oosthuizen: project administration, conceptualisation, writing—review and editing, Supervision. Luís Neves: project administration, conceptualisation, funding acquisition, writin—review and editing, supervision.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charles Byaruhanga.

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The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest and no competing interests.

Ethics approval

The research was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee (AEC) of the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa (number: V053-16) and followed the AEC guidelines for study design, handling and care of study animals, collection of blood and tick samples and relevant laboratory procedures. Permission to perform the research was granted by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Republic of South Africa (Reference number: 12/11/1/1/9).

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Section Editor: Neil Bruce Chilton

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Sili, G., Byaruhanga, C., Horak, I. et al. Ticks and tick-borne pathogens infecting livestock and dogs in Tchicala-Tcholoanga, Huambo Province, Angola. Parasitol Res 120, 1097–1102 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-07009-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-07009-3

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