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Molecular detection of Ehrlichia ruminantium in engorged ablyomma variegatum and cattle in Ogun State, Nigeria

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Abstract

Early diagnosis of Ehrlichia ruminantium in cattle is a recipe for effective control of heartwater in ruminants. Hence, we assessed the presence of E. ruminantium in the blood of cattle and the engorged Amblyomma variegatum by nested PCR. The electrophoresed PCR products obtained after primary and secondary amplifications revealed amplicon sizes of about350 bp and 280 bp respectively, which corresponded with the partial region of pSC20 gene amplified. Sequences obtained had 95–99% homology with those sequences available in GenBank. The prevalence of the E. ruminantium in ticks (50%; 126/252) was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that in cattle blood 23.55% (61/259). The prevalence was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in ticks from adult cattle 51.47% (133/259) than those from the young cattle 44.86% (116/259) and in tick from females 54.55% (141/259) than in ticks from the males 41.38% (107/259). Alignment of autochthonous sequences revealed that the three sequences were polymorphic with two sequences showing similar nucleotides deletion at points 87–91 and 107–108. The phylogenetic trees inferred by ML showed topologies with two autochthonous sequences, one each from cattle blood and tick, clustering together in one clade and the other clustering within those sequences from South Africa and Zimbabwe in another clade. In conclusion, this study revealed a higher prevalence of E. ruminantium in engorged A. variegatum than in the blood of infected cattle. Hence, it is suggested that the amplification that targets the pCS20 gene in engorged ticks may be more suitable to determine the E. ruminantium carrier status of cattle.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mr Olugbogi, E. I. of the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Parasitology for technical support rendered during the course of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria

    Olaoluwa Isaac Anifowose, Adewale Oladele Talabi & Ebenezer Babatunde Otesile

  2. Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria

    Michael Irewole Takeet

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  1. Olaoluwa Isaac Anifowose
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  2. Michael Irewole Takeet
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  3. Adewale Oladele Talabi
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  4. Ebenezer Babatunde Otesile
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Correspondence to Michael Irewole Takeet.

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Ethical approval, Number FUNAAB/COLVET/CREC/001/18 was obtained from the College of Veterinary Medicine Ethical Committee, College of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Nigeria, before commencing the project.

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Anifowose, O.I., Takeet, M.I., Talabi, A.O. et al. Molecular detection of Ehrlichia ruminantium in engorged ablyomma variegatum and cattle in Ogun State, Nigeria. J Parasit Dis 44, 403–410 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12639-020-01218-4

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