Molecular diagnosis and treatment of oriental theileriosis in calves

Abstract

Bovine theileriosis caused by Theileria orientalis is a tick borne haemoprotozoan disease and causes high morbidity and mortality in young calves. This paper deals with molecular diagnosis and treatment of oriental theileriosis in calves. The disease occurrence was found to be higher in calves aged between 3 to 8 months. The infected calves had low to moderate level of parasitaemia, except one calf which had high level of parasitaemia. Majority of infected calves were having mild anaemia with packed cell volume ranging between 15-23%. Molecular diagnosis using species specific primers confirmed the presence of T. orientalis in infected calves. Treatment with buparvaquone along with haematinics was found to be effective in calves.