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Infections by Babesia caballi and Theileria equi in Jordanian equids: epidemiology and genetic diversity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2013

MONEEB A. QABLAN ,
MIROSLAV OBORNÍK ,
KLÁRA J. PETRŽELKOVÁ ,
MICHAL SLOBODA ,
MUSTAFA F. SHUDIEFAT ,
PETR HOŘÍN ,
JULIUS LUKEŠ  and
DAVID MODRÝ
MONEEB A. QABLAN*
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic
MIROSLAV OBORNÍK
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, and Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
KLÁRA J. PETRŽELKOVÁ
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, 603 00 Brno, Czech Republic Liberec Zoo, 460 01 Liberec, Czech Republic
MICHAL SLOBODA
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic
MUSTAFA F. SHUDIEFAT
Affiliation:
National Center for Research and Development, Badia Research Program, Amman, Jordan
PETR HOŘÍN
Affiliation:
Institute of Animal Genetics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic CEITEC – Central European Institute of Technology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic
JULIUS LUKEŠ
Affiliation:
Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, and Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
DAVID MODRÝ
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, and Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic CEITEC – Central European Institute of Technology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic
*
*Corresponding author: Department of Pathology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic. E-mail: moneeb_78@hotmail.com
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Summary

Microscopic diagnosis of equine piroplasmoses, caused by Theileria equi and Babesia caballi, is hindered by low parasitaemia during the latent phase of the infections. However, this constraint can be overcome by the application of PCR followed by sequencing. Out of 288 animals examined, the piroplasmid DNA was detected in 78 (27·1%). Multiplex PCR indicated that T. equi (18·8%) was more prevalent than B. caballi (7·3%), while mixed infections were conspicuously absent. Sequences of 69 PCR amplicons obtained by the ‘catch-all’ PCR were in concordance with those amplified by the multiplex strategy. Computed minimal adequate model analyses for both equine piroplasmid species separately showed a significant effect of host species and age in the case of T. equi, while in the B. caballi infections only the correlation with host sex was significant. Phylogenetic analyses inferred the occurrence of three genotypes of T. equi and B. caballi. Moreover, a novel genotype C of B. caballi was identified. The dendrogram based on obtained sequences of T. equi revealed possible speciation events. The infections with T. equi and B. caballi are enzootic in all ecozones of Jordan and different genotypes circulate wherever dense horse population exists.

Keywords

JordanequineTheileria equiBabesia caballigenetic diversity
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 140 , Issue 9 , August 2013 , pp. 1096 - 1103
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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