Genetic Analysis of Babesia Isolates from Cattle with Clinical Babesiosis in Sri Lanka.
Bovine babesiosis is a serious threat to the cattle industry. We prepared blood DNA samples from 13 cattle with clinical babesiosis from the Badulla (n = 8), Jaffna (n = 3), and Kilinochchi (n = 2) districts in Sri Lanka. These DNA samples tested positive in PCR assays specific for Babesia bovis (n = 9), Babesia bigemina (n = 9), and Babesia ovata (n = 1). Twelve cattle were positive for B. bovis and/or B. bigemina One cow was negative for the tested Babesia species but was positive for Babesia on microscopic examination; the phylogenetic positions of 18S rRNA and cytochrome oxidase subunit III gene sequences suggested that the cow was infected with Babesia sp. Mymensingh, which was recently reported from a healthy cow in Bangladesh. We then developed a novel Babesia sp. Mymensingh-specific PCR assay and obtained positive results for one other sample. Analysis of gene sequences from the cow with positive B. ovata-specific PCR results demonstrated that the animal was infected not with B. ovata but with Babesia sp. Hue-1, which was recently reported from asymptomatic cattle in Vietnam. The virulence of Babesia sp. Hue-1 is unclear, as the cow was coinfected with B. bovis and B. bigemina However, Babesia sp. Mymensingh probably causes severe clinical babesiosis, as it was the sole Babesia species detected in a clinical case. The present study revealed the presence of two bovine Babesia species not previously reported in Sri Lanka, plus the first case of severe bovine babesiosis caused by a Babesia species other than B. bovis, B. bigemina, and Babesia divergens.
['Sivakumar|Thillaiampalam|T|', 'Tuvshintulga|Bumduuren|B|', 'Zhyldyz|Atambekova|A|', 'Kothalawala|Hemal|H|', 'Yapa|Palitha Rohana|PR|', 'Kanagaratnam|Ratnam|R|', 'Vimalakumar|Singarayar Caniciyas|SC|', 'Abeysekera|Thuduwege Sanath|TS|', 'Weerasingha|Amitha Sampath|AS|', 'Yamagishi|Junya|J|', 'Igarashi|Ikuo|I|', 'Silva|Seekkuge Susil Priyantha|SSP|', 'Yokoyama|Naoaki|N|']
D000818:Animals D001403:Babesia D016793:Babesia bovis D001404:Babesiosis D002417:Cattle D002418:Cattle Diseases D016054:DNA, Protozoan D005260:Female D010802:Phylogeny D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction D015800:Protozoan Proteins D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA D013188:Sri Lanka
Babesia cattle clinical babesiosis Sri Lanka