Clinical signs, prevalence, and hematobiochemical profiles associated with Anaplasma infections in sheep of North Iraq

Vet World Vol.13 August-2020 Article-5

Research Article

Veterinary World, 13(8): 1524-1527

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2020.1524-1527

Donea Abdulrazak Abdullah¹, Fawwaz Fadhil Ali¹, Afrah Younis Jasim¹, Shola David Ola-Fadunsin², Fufa Ido Gimba³, and Moeena Sadeq Ali¹

1. Department of Animal Production Techniques, Northern Technical University, Mosul, Iraq.
2. Department of Veterinary Parasitology and Entomology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ilorin, PMB 1515 Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria.
3. Avian Influenza Control Project Animal Health Component Desk office, Taraba State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources Jalingo, Taraba State, Nigeria.

Background and Aim: Anaplasma infection is a worldwide prevalent condition that causes significant economic losses in affected flocks. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and clinical signs associated with ovine anaplasmosis as well as the hematological and biochemical changes associated with the disease in natural infection in North Iraq.

Materials and Methods: A total of 420 sheep were appropriately examined, and the clinical signs were documented accordingly. Blood samples were collected and subjected to parasitological, hematological, and biochemical analyses.

Results: Anaplasma-infected sheep displayed the following clinical signs: Paleness of the mucous membrane, bloody diarrhea, emaciation, pyrexia, jaundice, nasal discharge, coughing, loss of wool, nervous signs, hemoglobinuria, and lacrimation. The prevalence of Anaplasma infection was 66.19%, and female sheep were significantly (p<0.05) more infected than male sheep. The hematological and biochemical parameters were significantly different between Anaplasma-positive and Anaplasma-negative sheep.

Conclusion: Anaplasma infection among sheep is a significant concern in North Iraq considering its prevalence, clinical signs, and hematological and biochemical findings, which entirely causes significant debilitating effects on sheep productivity. It is important to pay more attention toward managing tick infestation among sheep to reduce the occurrence of this rickettsial disease for a more robust livestock sector of the Iraqi economy. Keywords: Anaplasma species, biochemical, hematological, prevalence, sheep.

Keywords: Anaplasma species, biochemical, hematological, prevalence, sheep.

How to cite this article: Abdullah DA, Ali FF, Jasim AY, Ola-Fadunsin SD, Gimba FI, Ali MS (2020) Clinical signs, prevalence, and hematobiochemical profiles associated with Anaplasma infections in sheep of North Iraq, Veterinary World, 13(8): 1524-1527.

Received: 23-02-2020 Accepted: 12-06-2020 Published online: 08-08-2020

Corresponding author: Shola David Ola-Fadunsin E-mail: olashodam2@yahoo.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2020.1524-1527

Copyright: Abdullah, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.