Babesia bovis and Babesia bigemina are causative agents of bovine babesiosis, a tick-borne disease of cattle in tropical and subtropical regions. Babesia spp. infection adversely affects cattle health and can be fatal resulting in considerable economic loss worldwide. Under endemic stability conditions, herds contain high numbers of chronically infected, asymptomatic carrier animals, in which no parasitemia is detected by microscopic blood smear examination. In addition to bovines, also water buffaloes are infected by both Babesia spp. commonly leading to a subclinical infection. The infection rate (by nPCR) and herd exposure (by IFAT) of bovines and water buffaloes reared under similar field conditions in an area of endemic stability were determined and compared. In order to optimize direct parasite detection, highly sensitive nPCR assays were developed and applied, allowing the detection of as little as 0.1 fg DNA of each Babesia pathogen. Significantly lower percentages (p<0.001) of seropositive water buffaloes compared to bovines were observed for B. bovis (71.4% vs. 98%) and B. bigemina (85% vs. 100%). Interestingly, in comparison, differences noticed between water buffaloes and bovines were considerably larger with direct parasite detection by nPCR (16.2% vs. 82.3% and 24% vs. 94.1% for B. bovis and B. bigemina, respectively). As expected, bovines subjected to monthly acaricide applications exhibited a significant lower infection rate as determined by nPCR than bovines not subjected to these measures (B. bovis 33.3% vs. 90.7%, p<0.001; B. bigemina 80% vs. 96.5%, p<0.001, for treated vs. untreated animals). Interestingly no differences between these groups were observed with respect to seropositivity, suggesting similar rates of parasite exposure (B. bovis 100% vs. 97.7%, p<0.001; B. bigemina 100% vs. 100%, p<0.001). Importantly, a significantly higher number of water buffaloes as determined by nPCR were infected when reared jointly with bovines not subjected to tick control than when reared jointly with bovines subjected to tick control (B. bovis 31.6% vs. 9.5%, p<0.01; B. bigemina 42.1% vs. 9.5%, p<0.01, for water buffaloes reared with untreated vs. treated bovines) and/or when reared without bovines (B. bovis 31.6% vs. 11.6%, p<0.01; B. bigemina 42.1% vs. 20%, p<0.01). An accumulation of seropositivity and a decline of infection rates were observed in older animals, while differences observed with regard to gender may warrant further investigation. In summary, our findings suggest that water buffaloes are much more capable to limit or eliminate Babesia infection, possibly due to a more capable immune defense. Furthermore, an increased Babesia spp. parasite reservoir of bovines seems to increase the infection rate of water buffaloes when both are reared on the same pasture.

Non-protein thiols are considered radioprotectors, preventing DNA damage by ionizing radiation. As bleomycin (BLM) is a radiomimetic agent it was proposed that thiols may prevent DNA damage produced by this antibiotic. However, results obtained with thiols and BLM-combined treatments in living cells are contradictory. The goal of this work was to assess the influence of five non-protein thiols of different electrical charge and chemical composition, on the DNA damage, DNA repair, chromosomal aberrations and cell killing induced by BLM. We found that, at the chromosomal level and cell killing, Glutathione, β-Mercaptoethanol and cysteine showed a protective effect, while ditiothreitol and cysteamine increased them, whereas at the DNA level all thiols potentiated the DNA damage induced by BLM, most probably due to a reactivation of the BLM complex.

Anaplasma marginale, the causative agent of bovine anaplasmosis, is a tick-borne bacterium that causes significant economic losses for cattle industries and is increasingly being detected in other animal species. Rhipicephalus microplus is the main vector of this bacterium and may be found parasitizing small ruminants. In northeastern Brazil, multispecies grazing is a common family subsistence practice on smallholder farms possibly facilitating interspecies transmission of pathogens. Considering that A. marginale infection has been previously molecularly described in sheep, this study has aimed to estimate the prevalence of A. marginale and factors associated with the infection in goats from northeastern Brazil. A total of 403 goat blood samples were included in the study. An epidemiological questionnaire was applied to each farm owner addressing age, gender, presence of ticks and multispecies grazing. All samples were screened for A. marginale- and A. ovis-infection using primers targeting the Anaplasma spp. msp4 gene. The identity of A. marginale in the blood was confirmed by PCR amplification of msp5 followed by sequencing. Anaplasma spp. were differentiated by sequencing of the repeat region of the msp1α gene. For the statistical analysis the Chi-square or the Fisher’s exact test was used to verify association of the individual factors (age, gender, presence of ticks, and multispecies grazing) with Anaplasma spp. infection. We report the first molecular detection of A. marginale in goats from northeastern Brazil, based on msp1α, msp4 and msp5 gene sequencing analysis. Sequencing of the detected A. marginale msp1α gene revealed the F repeat. Amblyomma parvum and R. microplus were found feeding on animals.

Tick-borne diseases (TBD) represent an important challenge for human and veterinary medicine. In Slovakia, studies on the epidemiology of tick-borne pathogens (TBP) regarding reservoir hosts have focused on small mammals and to a lesser extent on birds or lizards, while knowledge of the role of the remaining vertebrate groups is limited. Generally, wild ungulates, hedgehogs, small- and medium-sized carnivores, or squirrels are important feeding hosts for ticks and serve as reservoirs for TBP. Importantly, because they carry infected ticks and/or are serologically positive, they can be used as sentinels to monitor the presence of ticks and TBP in the environment. With their increasing occurrence in urban and suburban habitats, wild ungulates, hedgehogs or foxes are becoming an important component in the developmental cycle of Ixodes ricinus and of TBP such as Anaplasma phagocytophilum or Babesia spp. On the other hand, it has been postulated that cervids may act as dilution hosts for Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu lato) and tick-borne encephalitis virus. In southwestern Slovakia, a high prevalence of infection with Theileria spp. (100%) was observed in some cervid populations, while A. phagocytophilum (prevalence of c.50%) was detected in cervids and wild boars. The following pathogens were detected in ticks feeding on free-ranging ungulates, birds, and hedgehogs: A. phagocytophilum, Rickettsia spp., Coxiella burnetii, Neoehrlichia mikurensis, B. burgdorferi (s.l.), and Babesia spp. The growing understanding of the role of wildlife as pathogen reservoirs and carriers of pathogen-infected ticks offers valuable insights into the epidemiology of TBP, providing a foundation for reducing the risk of TBD.