Mitigated clinical disease in water buffaloes experimentally infected with Babesia bovis

Publication date: Available online 20 April 2018 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Daniel Benitez, Maria Mesplet, Ignacio Echaide, Susana Torioni de Echaide, Leonhard Schnittger, Monica Florin-Christensen Water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) are raised in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, and act as hosts of Babesia bovis parasites and the tick vector Rhipicephalus microplus. As no clinical cases of B. bovis-infection have been reported, we hypothesized that, unlike bovines, water buffaloes respond asymptomatically to an acute infection. To test this hypothesis, we inoculated two groups of 24-month-old Mediterranean breed water buffaloes with 108 erythrocytes infected with two Argentine B. bovis isolates: BboM2P (n = 5) or BboS2P (n = 5). These strains displayed mild (BboM2P) or high (BboS2P) pathogenicity in Bos taurus calves of the same age (n = 5 and n = 1, respectively), when tested in parallel. In water buffaloes, no changes in body temperature were observed with both strains, and no hematocrit changes were detected in BboM2P-inoculated animals. In contrast, in the BboS2P-inoculated water buffalo group significant but relatively minor reductions in haematocrit values were noted compared to the infected bovine. The parasitemia attained in water buffaloes was considerably lower than in bovines and could only be detected by nested PCR, or indirectly via serology, whereas in most bovines, it could also be detected in Giemsa-sta...
Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases - Category: Zoology Source Type: research