Molecular prevalence and associated risk factors ofin Pakistani sheep.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Majority of Pakistani population lives in rural areas and raising animals, especially the small ruminants, is their primary source of income.is known to infect small ruminants globally and causing significant economic losses to livestock owners, however prevalence ofhas been least investigated from Pakistan despite having a huge sheep population. METHODS: The present study was conducted from June 2021 till December 2021 to report the PCR based prevalence ofin the blood samples of sheep (= 239) that were collected from District Dera Ghazi Khan in Pakistan. RESULTS: Out of 239 samples, 30 (12.5%) amplified a 347 bp fragment specific for thegene of. Represented partialgene sequences were confirmed by Sanger sequencing and deposited to GenBank (OP620757-59). None of the studied epidemiological factors (age, sex, breed, size of herd, dogs with herd, and composition of herd) showed an association (> 0.05) with theinfection in enrolled sheep. Analysis of the amplified partialsequence ofrevealed that this gene is highly conserved as all three sequences were identical and phylogenetically resembled with thesequences amplified from small ruminants in China, Kenya, and Germany, Turkey, Portugal, Tunisia and India. In conclusion, for the first time, we are reporting a moderate prevalence ofprevalence in Pakistani sheep and this data will help in developing the integrated control policies against this newly reported tick-borne disease that is infecting our sheep breeds.