Diagnosis and confirmation of Theileria annulata infection in cattle in Odisha, India

Abstract

The present research was undertaken in and around Bhubaneswar, Odisha for a period of three consecutive years from March 2012 to February 2015 to study the incidence of bovine tropical theileriosis in cattle through examination of Giemsa stained blood smears and confirm theileria annulata infection by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method. Out of the 5237 suspected cattle blood samples, 3876(74%) were found positive by blood smear examination and 1361(26%) were found negative. Fifty fresh blood samples including 25 positive and 25 negative cases, declared after blood smear examination, were subjected to PCR test and 34 were found positive. The PCR product was sequenced and submitted to National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). It was assigned a new accession number KT222946 and named as OMSA-1 by NCBI. This is also the first report on PCR diagnosis of theileriosis in the state. As PCR improved the diagnosis by blood smear examination, it can be used for diagnosis to avoid false positive and false negative results.