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Short Communication · Volume 2, Issue 4, Pages 69–74, 11 December 2015 · Open Access

Epidemiological Situation of Bovine Tropical Theileriosis (<i>Theileria</i> <i>annulata</i> Infection) in the Northwest Tunisia

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Journal:
The Journal of Advances in Parasitology
Published:
11 December 2015
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  • Abstract | The authors present a cross-sectional survey of clinical cases of tropical theileriosis in the humid region of Bizerte (Northwest Tunisia).
  • The majority (95/735; 12.92%) of clinical cases were observed in exotic breeds; by comparison, the prevalence among crossbred animals was 3.53% (26/735).
  • The infection prevalence in cows was 10.2% (75/735) they were more infected by T. annulata than the other cattle categories.
  • Keywords | Theileria annulata, Cattle, Tropical theileriosis, Giemsa, Tunisia.

Selected from the article's own text.

Abstract

Mohamed Anis Boussaadoun1, Mohamed Gharbi1*, Leila Sayeh2, Mohamed Chiheb Soudani3, Mohamed Aziz Darghouth1

1Laboratory of Parasitology, Ecole Natinale de Médecine Vétérinaire de Sidi Thabet, Institution de la Recherche et de l’Enseignement Supérieur Agricoles, Univ. Manouba, 2020 Sidi Thabet, Tunisia; 2Field Veterinary Surgeon, 7010 Sejenane, Tunisia; 3Field Veterinary Surgeon, 7000 Bizerte, Tunisia.

*Correspondence | Mohamed Gharbi, Laboratory of Parasitology, Ecole Natinale de Médecine Vétérinaire de Sidi Thabet, Institution de la Recherche et de l’Enseignement Supérieur Agricoles, Univ. Manouba, 2020 Sidi Thabet, Tunisia, Tunisia; E-mail: gharbim2000@yahoo.fr

Abstract
The authors present a cross-sectional survey of clinical cases of tropical theileriosis in the humid region of Bizerte (Northwest Tunisia). A total number of 122 belonging to 107 extensive cattle farms were confirmed positive to two species of piroplasms (Theileria annulata and Babesia spp.) by Giemsa technique. The prevalence of co-infections (T. annulata-Babesia spp.) was 5.7% (7/122). The incidence of clinical cases was unimodal, it lasted from early June to mid-August, with a peak in mid-July. The majority (95/735; 12.92%) of clinical cases were observed in exotic breeds; by comparison, the prevalence among crossbred animals was 3.53% (26/735). In total, 14.42% (106/735) of cattle were recently introduced in the farm. The infection prevalence in cows was 10.2% (75/735) they were more infected by T. annulata than the other cattle categories. This study is the first report description concerning tropical theileriosis in Northwest Tunisia; further studies are needed to better characterize the epidemiology of theileriosis in the humid region of Tunisia.

Keywords | Theileria annulata, Cattle, Tropical theileriosis, Giemsa, Tunisia

Editor | Muhammad Imran Rashid, Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.

Received | September 01, 2015; Revised | November 24, 2015; Accepted | November 27, 2015; Published | December 11, 2015

Citation | Boussaadoun MA, Gharbi M, Sayeh L, Soudani MC, Darghouth MA (2015). Epidemiological situation of bovine tropical theileriosis (Theileria annulata infection) in the Northwest Tunisia. J. Adv. Parasitol. 2(4): 69-74.

ISSN | 2311-4096

Copyright © 2015 Boussaadoun et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Table

Positive/overall (%) OR [95% CI]

Parameter

Theileria annulata

Babesia spp.

T. annulata and Babesia spp.

Overall

Breed

Holstein

34/235 (14.46)

1.11 [0.6; 2.05]

0/235

N.A.

2/235 (0.85)

0.35 [0.04; 2.23]

36/235 (14.4)

0.97 [0.54; 1.75]

Brown Swiss

53/293 (18.08)

1.59 [0.56; 4.85]

1/293 (0.3)

N.A.

1/293 (0.3)

0.14 [0.01; 1.32]

55/293 (18.7)

1.05 [0.61; 1.8]

Tarentaise cattle

5/41(12.19)

0.91 [0.28; 2.77]

0/41

N.A.

0/41

N.A.

5/41 (12.19)

0.75 [0.23; 2.24]

Crossbreed

22/166 (13.25)

0/166

4/166 (2.4)

26/166 (15.66)

Sex

Male

18/103 (17.47)

1.18 [0.65; 2.12]

0/103

N.A.

1/103 (0.97)

N.A.

19/103 (18.44)

1.16 [0.65; 2.05]

Female

96/632 (15.18)

1/632 (0.15)

6/632 (0.94)

103/632 (16.29)

Animal category

Male calf

8/32 (25)

1.94 [0.77; 4.77]

0/32

N.A.

0/32

N.A.

8/32 (25)

1.8 [0.71; 4.4]

Female calf

5/24 (20.8)

1.53 [0.48; 4.54]

0/24

N.A.

0/24

N.A.

5/24 (20.8)

1.42 [0.45; 4.19]

Bull calf

10/71 (14.08)

0.96 [0.44; 2.04]

0/71

N.A.

1/71 (1.4)

N.A.

11/71 (15.5)

0.99 [0.47; 2.05]

Heifer

20/123 (16.26)

1.13 [0.64; 2]

0/123

N.A.

2/123 (1.62)

1.99 [0.25; 12.75]

22/123 (17.88)

1.17 [0.67; 2.03]

Cow

71/485 (14.6)

1/485 (0.2)

4/485 (0.82)

76/485 (15.67)

Age

≤ 6 months

13/56 (23.2)

1.59 [0.76; 3.29]

0/56

N.A.

0/56

N.A.

13/56 (23.2)

1.44 [0.69; 2.96]

6 months< <15months

14/89 (15.73)

0.98 [0.49; 1.93]

0/89

N.A.

0/89

N.A.

14/89 (15.73)

0.89 [0.45; 1.74]

15 months≤ <4 years

29/227 (12.77)

0.77 [0.46; 1.28]

0/227

N.A.

3/227 (1.3)

1.2 [0.21; 6.4]

32/227 (14.09)

0.78 [0.48; 1.27]

≥ 4 years

58/363 (15.97)

1/363 (0.27)

4/363 (1.1)

63/363 (17.35)

Number of summer seasons in the farm

0

1

≥ 2

Overall

99/622 (15.91)

1.02 [0.52; 2.01]

2/30 (6.66)

0.38 [0.06; 1.98]

13/83 (15.05)

114/735 (15.51)

1/622 (0.16)

N.A.

0/30

N.A.

0/83

1/735 (0.13)

7/622 (1.12)

N.A.

0/30

N.A.

0/83 (0.94)

7/735 (0.95)

107/622 (17.2)

1.12 [0.58; 2.21]

2/30 (6.66)

0.38 [0.06; 1.98]

13/83 (16)

122/735 (16.59)

Abortion

4/30 (13.33)

0/30

1/30 (3.33)

5/30 (16.6)

Lethality

2/735 (0.27)

0/735

0/735

2/735 (0.27)

1: Association between the different parameters and prevalence of piroplasms in cattle

OR: Odds Ratio; N.A: Not Applicable

The clinical symptoms observed on animals with co-infections were in favor of tropical theileriosis, because babesiosis (Babesia spp. infection) is transmitted by Rhipicephalus annulatus which is active during the autumn and winter . This seasonal distribution was similar to that observed in semi-arid regions in Tunisia ; , as well as the activity of the tick vector ; .

The majority of clinical cases (109/122; 89.3%) were from Sejnane delegation, especially El Maâlia locality (71/122; 58.2%) (χ2= 96.15; p<0.0001) (Figure 4). These results can be explained by differences in risk factors such as the technicality of breeders or poorly built cattle enclosures and size of the herd of cattle at risk in these areas. The majority of clinical cases (99/122; 81.1%) (χ2=94.3; p<0.0001) were from farms containing less than or equal to 10 animals. There was a significant negative correlation between the farm size and the incidence of clinical cases (Pearson correlation coefficient = - 0.81; p<0.0001) (Figure 5). Tropical theileriosis is more frequent in small cattle farms characterized by poor technical skills and low financial incomes affecting the cattle premises quality (presence of crevices and cracks) favorable to domestic tick H. scupense and on herd health . Indeed, the nymphs hibernate in the crevices and cracks, these shelters are also the egg laying site of engorged females . When considering the cattle population in the region, pure bred cattle were the most infected, the prevalence of the disease in Brown Swiss breed was 11.25% (54/480), 11.25% (36/320) in Holstein and only 0.34% (26/7500) in the crossbreed (χ2=623.55; p<0001). This difference could be explained by genetic resistance of crossbreed cattle . The majority of diseased animals (106/122; 86.88%) (χ2=135.21; p<0.0001) were recently introduced in the farm (Figure 3). These animals were naive against T. annulata and when introduced to the farms they are infected by the ticks .

Figure 3:Number of tropical theileriosis clinical cases with regard to the number of summer seasons spent in the farm

These results show that the disease is mainly due to the introduction of exotic cattle breeds. Tropical theileriosis is a problem during any incomplete transition from traditional breeding to exotic breeds without acquiring the necessary technical package. This observation therefore illustrates the need of technical support to breeders by state regional structures concerned to ensure rational transition to the conditions for the breeding of improved breeds. The maximum incidence of clinical cases was observed in animals aged less then or equal to six months, this distribution would indicate the presence of an unstable enzootic state (Darghouth et al., 1996; Darghouth, 2000). Furthermore, the presence of many cases of disease in cows also indicate the presence of an unstable enzootic state as seems to confirm the presence of cows born in stables and yet affected by the disease.

The abortion rate (16.6%) and lethality (0.27%) were probably underestimated. Indeed, they were calculated on the basis of cases reported by breeders. These values were significantly lower than those reported in Tunisia by Darghouth et al. (1997), Khayeche (1998) and Bouattour (2001) which were 30 to 40% and 10 to 13.5%, respectively.

Knowledge of epidemiological indicators is important to define the epidemiological situations and allow an appropriate control programs implementation. Definitively, the failure of control programs against tropical theileriosis is mainly due to the presence of bad cattle premises where exotic cattle are introduced in enzootic tropical theileriosis.

This study is the first to be carried out in humid bioclimatic regions in Tunisia, further studies are needed to better characterize the enzootic states and phenology of the vector in this region.

Figure 4: Geographic distribution and prevalence of tropical theileriosis clinical cases in Bizerte gouvernorate (Northwest Tunisia)

Figure 5: Percentage of tropical theileriosis clinical cases in accordance to farm size

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study was supported by Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Information, Technology and Communication, Tunisia and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschat project “Molecular epidemiology network for promotion and support of delivery of live vaccines against T. parva and T. annulata infection in Eastern and Northern Africa’’ (Grant No. SE 862/2-1) and IRESA project “Etude des contraintes relatives à la filière lait bovin dans la région de Bizerte: vers un nouveau bassin laitier. The authors would like to thank all cattle farmers included in this study and all the staff of Laboratory of Parasitology, National School of Veterinary Medicine, Sidi Thabet, Tunisia: Limam Sassi, Mohamed Jedidi, Taoufik Lahmar and Béchir Guesmi.

Authors’ Contribution

MAB: collected and analyzed the samples and wrote the manuscript;

MG: wrote the manuscript;

MCS and LS: collected the samples;

MAD: designed the study and supervised the work

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Epidemiological Situation of Bovine Tropical Theileriosis (<i>Theileria</i> <i>annulata</i> Infection) in the Northwest Tunisia · ResearchersLinks