Vet World Vol.17 April-2024 Article - 20
Research Article
Veterinary World, 17(4): 903-910
https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2024.903-910
Rearing of Rhipicephalus annulatus ticks on rabbits for the biological transmission of Anaplasma marginale
2Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Cholistan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan.
3Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.
Background and Aim: Anaplasma marginale is an obligate intraerythrocytic rickettsial parasite that infects cattle in tropical and subtropical regions. There is no evidence that A. marginale inoculation can be used to culture Rhipicephalus annulatus in rabbits. This study aimed to determine the molting of R. annulatus larvae, nymphs, and adults on rabbits as well as nymphs and adults of R. annulatus on calves with or without A. marginale. Transstadial, horizontal, and transovarial transmissions of A. marginale in R. annulatus reared on rabbits and calves were evaluated.
Materials and Methods: Engorged female ticks were collected from field samples of A. marginale-infected and non-infected cattle. We divided the eight rabbits into two groups: A and B. Group A rabbits were infected with A. marginale through parenteral inoculation, whereas Group B rabbits were kept as a control. The “clean rabbits” in Group B were observed for tick rearing without A. marginale. Polymerase chain reaction was used to screen A. marginale in rabbits and stages of tick. The complete life cycle of R. annulatus with or without A. marginale was observed on rabbits.
Results: A 6.5-day longer life cycle was observed in ticks harboring A. marginale than in ticks without A. marginale. To observe transstadial transmission, transstadial, horizontal, and transovarial transmissions of A. marginale in R. annulatus ticks were experimentally observed in one clean calf fed separately with infected nymphs and female adult ticks.
Conclusion: We experimentally observed transovarian, transstadial, and transovarial transmission of A. marginale in R. annulatus ticks as a biological vector reared on calves and rabbits. We used rabbits as a model animal for rearing R. annulatus ticks and culture of A. marginale.
Keywords: Anaplasma marginale, horizontal, rabbits, Rhipicephalus annulatus, transovarial, transstadial.
Keywords: Anaplasma marginale, horizontal, rabbits, Rhipicephalus annulatus, transovarial, transstadial.
How to cite this article: Ali S, Ahmad AS, Ashraf K, Khan JA, and Rashid MI (2024) Rearing of Rhipicephalus annulatus ticks on rabbits for the biological transmission of Anaplasma marginale, Veterinary World, 17(4): 903-910.
Received: 2024-01-19 Accepted: 2024-04-04 Published online: 2024-04-25
Corresponding author: E-mail:
DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2024.903-910
Copyright: Ali, 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.
