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Identification of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection among camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Yazd, Iran

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Abstract

Anaplasma phagocytophilum is a tick-borne Gram-negative intracellular bacterium that could infect a few leukocytes of a large range of mammalian hosts together with humans. The clinical symptoms of the disease (granulocytic anaplasmosis) can vary from subclinical to fatal. The study aimed to detect A. phagocytophilum among camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Iran through two distinctive diagnostic techniques. One hundred twenty-five blood samples of male camels (C. dromedarius) were taken. Thin blood films were stained by Giemsa and DNA was extracted from whole blood for molecular examination. In this study, A. phagocytophilum was detected by microscopy and molecular examination among 125 male camels (C. dromedarius) in Yazd, central Iran. The A. phagocytophilum morula was observed in one sample out of 125 (0.8%) in microscopic examination and was detected in 4 samples out of 125 (3.2%) in the molecular examination. According to the results, A. phagocytophilum infects camels (C. dromedarius) consequently, camels can play a role in the infection of ticks, other animals, or humans. Many aspects of this disease continue to be set up by way of further studies in Iran.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pathobiology Department, Shahmirzad School of Veterinary Medicine, Semnan University, Valie Asr area, Semnan Province, 35718-95589, Shahmirzad, Iran

    Maryam Rassouli

  2. Pathobiology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran

    Maryam Rassouli, Abbas Oliya Ardekani & Hidokht Rezaeian

  3. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran

    Hassan Moazzezi & Zahra Robatjazi

Authors
  1. Maryam Rassouli
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  2. Abbas Oliya Ardekani
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  3. Hassan Moazzezi
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  4. Hidokht Rezaeian
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  5. Zahra Robatjazi
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Contributions

MR: supervision, writing, and editing; AOA: collecting samples; and HM, HR, and ZR doing experiments.

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Correspondence to Maryam Rassouli.

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Rassouli, M., Ardekani, A.O., Moazzezi, H. et al. Identification of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection among camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Yazd, Iran. Comp Clin Pathol 31, 847–851 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-022-03388-4

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