Diagnosis of subclinical hemoprotozoal and rickettsial infections in Bovine by blood smear and ELISA

Abstract

Subclinical hemoparasitic infections are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in bovines as they easily evade being diagnosed during routine physical examination. Hence a study was carried out to know the incidence and prevalence of hemoprotozoan and ricketsial infections in cattle with no overt clinical manifestation by blood smear examination and ELISA. Examination of blood smears revealed Babesia organisms in 24 (40%) animals, Anaplasma in 28 (44%) animals and Theileria in 15 (23%) animals. In ELISA, 38 animals were positive for Babesia bigemina antibodies and 42 animals were positive for Anaplasma marginale antibodies.