First Report of <i>Trypanosoma vivax</i> (Duttonella), <i>Babesia bovis</i> and <i>Babesia bigemina</i> DNA in Cattle from the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, and Its Relationship with <i>Anaplasma marginale</i>
María Augusta Chávez-Larrea,
Cristina Cholota-Iza,
Michelle Yugcha-Diaz,
Jorge Ron-Román,
Freddy Proaño-Pérez,
Alicia Maya-Delgado,
Jimmy Jumbo-Moreira,
Armando Reyna-Bello,
Claude Saegerman
Affiliations
María Augusta Chávez-Larrea
Research Unit of Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Applied to Veterinary Sciences (UREAR-ULiège), Fundamental and Applied Research for Animal and Health (FARAH) Center, Department of Infections and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium
Cristina Cholota-Iza
Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Humana (GISAH), Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida y de la Agricultura, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas-ESPE, P.O. Box 171-5-231, Sangolqui 171103, Ecuador
Michelle Yugcha-Diaz
Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Humana (GISAH), Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida y de la Agricultura, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas-ESPE, P.O. Box 171-5-231, Sangolqui 171103, Ecuador
Jorge Ron-Román
Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Humana (GISAH), Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida y de la Agricultura, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas-ESPE, P.O. Box 171-5-231, Sangolqui 171103, Ecuador
Freddy Proaño-Pérez
Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Humana (GISAH), Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida y de la Agricultura, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas-ESPE, P.O. Box 171-5-231, Sangolqui 171103, Ecuador
Alicia Maya-Delgado
Research Unit of Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Applied to Veterinary Sciences (UREAR-ULiège), Fundamental and Applied Research for Animal and Health (FARAH) Center, Department of Infections and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium
Jimmy Jumbo-Moreira
Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Humana (GISAH), Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida y de la Agricultura, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas-ESPE, P.O. Box 171-5-231, Sangolqui 171103, Ecuador
Armando Reyna-Bello
Grupo de Investigación en Sanidad Animal y Humana (GISAH), Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida y de la Agricultura, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas-ESPE, P.O. Box 171-5-231, Sangolqui 171103, Ecuador
Claude Saegerman
Research Unit of Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Applied to Veterinary Sciences (UREAR-ULiège), Fundamental and Applied Research for Animal and Health (FARAH) Center, Department of Infections and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium
Bovine trypanosomoses, caused by Trypanosoma vivax, is a disease present in African and South American countries. This haemoflagellate protozoan parasite, as well as Anaplasma marginale and Babesia spp., are microorganisms that have a blood tropism, mainly causing fever and anaemia, which reduces the productive capacity of dairy or meat farms. This study aimed to detect T. vivax and other blood parasites in bovine herds in the Galapagos Islands. A total of 170 blood samples from bovines in 19 farms on Santa Cruz Island (the most populated) were collected and analyzed using different PCR techniques: Da-PCR and CatL-PCR to detect Trypanosoma vivax, CatL-PCR to detect Trypanosoma theileri, ESAG-PCR to detect Trypanosoma evansi, 18S rRNA-PCR to detect Babesia spp., rap-1-PCR to detect Babesia bovis, hyp-PCR to detect Babesia bigemina, and msp5-PCR to detect A. marginale. The prevalence of T. vivax, B. bovis, B. bigemina, and A. marginale was estimated as 14.7%, 11.2%, 14.7%, and 67.1%, respectively. In this study, the presence of four haemotropic agents was evidenced in 26.3% (5/19) of the farms. Coinfected cattle (A. marginale, B. bovis and B. bigemina) had significantly higher body temperatures compared to others (two-sample Wilcoxon rank-sum test; p-value = 0.047). The molecular techniques used in this study demonstrated the presence of T. vivax and B. bovis in cattle from Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos for the first time. The study also investigates the relationship between T. vivax, A. marginale and Babesia spp., making a significant contribution to the field of veterinary medicine.
