Prevalence of ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) and Theileria lestoquardi in sheep at El Huda and El Nuhud animals production rese

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Prevalence of ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) and Theileria lestoquardi in sheep at El Huda and El Nuhud animals production research stations, Sudan Abdelmonim Magzoub1 • Ahmed El Ghali1 • Mohammed O. Hussien2 Yasir Juma1 • Sara B. Mohammed3



Received: 18 March 2020 / Accepted: 29 September 2020 Ó Indian Society for Parasitology 2020

Abstract A cross-sectional study was performed 200 blood samples and 314 tick samples in El Huda and El Nuhud animals production research stations, Sudan, in May (summer) and December (winter) in 2016, to determine the prevalence of Theileria lestoquardi in sheep and the potential risk factors associated with the infection. A total of 200 blood samples and 314 tick samples were collected from El Huda (n = 103 blood, 97 tick) and El Nuhud (n = 97 blood, 217 tick) stations. Data on the risk factors, such as age, sex, ecotype of sheep, body condition score and seasons were recorded. The overall prevalence of Theileria lestoquardi was 13% (26/200) using PCR. A significant variation in the prevalence of Theileria lestoquardi was observed between the stations and the ecotype of sheep (p B 0.05), whereas the highest prevalence was recorded in El-Huda station (19.4%) as well as in Shugor (22.8%). Other risk factors, like age, sex, body condition, and seasons were not found to be significantly associated with infection. However, the highest prevalence rate was recorded in old animals (21.6%) than the other, in males (17.9%) than females (12.2%), in animals with poor body condition (26.1%) than the other, and in winter (16%) than summer (10%). Four tick species i.e. Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi (63.1%), Hyalomma anatolicum (13.8%),

& Sara B. Mohammed [email protected] 1

Animal Resources Research Corporation, P.O. Box 8067, Khartoum, Sudan

2

Central Laboratory, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, P.O. Box 2081, Khartoum, Sudan

3

Sudan University of Science and Technology, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, P.O. Box 2081, Khartoum, Sudan

Hyalomma dromedarii (8.8%), and Hyalomma impeltatum (14.3%) were recorded in El Nuhud station. While in El Huda station, only Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi (79.4%), Hyalomma anatolicum (20.6%) were recorded. This study revealed that 13% of sheep were suffering from Theileria lestoquardi which is a considerable number at the stations. Therefore, further epidemiological investigations on disease throughout the year are required in order to set a wellcoordinated control program. Keywords Theileria lestoquardi  Sheep  Ticks  PCR  Sudan

Introduction Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) are present throughout the world, particularly in the tropical and subtropical regions. These diseases are considered a significant threat to global food security (Jabbar et al. 2015). Ovine theileriosis is a tick-borne disease caused by Theileria spp, which is an apicomplexan protozoan parasite that exists in a wide zone of northern Africa, south-eastern Europe, central and western Asia and in India (Uilenberg 1981). Of the Th