Molecular Detection of Anaplasma and Ehrlichia Infection in Ticks in Borderline of Iran-Afghanistan

Anaplasmosis, a disease caused by various species of Anaplasma, poses important economic constraints to animal breeders. Ehrlichiosis is a worldwide zoonosis illness and mostly occurs in tropical and subtropical regions that are close to the vector’s distribution. Tick-borne pathogens lead to over 100,000 cases of illness in the world each year. Besides the costs of the additional veterinary care, anaplasmosis causes abortion in animals, reduction of milk production, body weight, and frequently leads to death. In this study, we investigated on infection of ticks to Anaplasma and Ehrlichia pathogens in Zabol and Zahak County in Sistan and Baluchestan Province where is bordered with Afghanistan. Totally from June 2013 to May 2014, 369 ticks were caught from goats, cows and sheep. Molecular studies on 53 of these samples which represented all specimens, showed that Ehrlichia’s DNA and Anaplasma’s DNA was found in 14 (26.4%) out of the 53 selected specimens. The results showed the infection of Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Hyalomma anatolicum with Anaplasma ovis. Also we saw infection of H. anatolicum and H. asiaticum ticks to Ehrlichia spp. This study has been intended to do a comprehensive survey of Ehrlichia and Anaplasma distribution in ticks caught from east of Iran; it was designed to investigate the presence of Anaplasma spp. and Ehrlichia spp. in Zabol and Zahak Counties, Iran. These results show that these pathogens should be controlled in such regions. Corresponding author. A. Jafarbekloo et al.