molecular epidemiology of trypanosoma in equids in iran

trypanosomes infect the blood of the vertebrate host, causing fever, weakness, and lethargy, which lead to weight loss and anemia; in some animals the disease is fatal unless treated and causes serious economic losses. considering the importance of what mentioned present study was conducted to detection of trypanosoma in healthy equids. 116 blood samples collected from lorestan, hamedan, chaharmahal va bakhtiari, guilan, isfahan and fars provinces and were tested by polymerase chain reaction (pcr). trypanosoma was not found in any samples. fortunately, this may suggest that the disease is not prevalent or prevalence of the disease is very low in iran. it is suggested to prevent the disease by preventing equids suspected of carrying the disease from entering the country and imported healthy equids should be tested by serological and molecular tests.