Molecular Study ofspp. in Horses, Sheep, and Goats with Phylogenetic Analysis in Northwest Iran.

Abstract

Anaplasmosis, a tick-borne disease with worldwide distribution, impacts ruminants, equines, carnivores, and humans. This study aimed to investigatein horses from Ardabil province andin small ruminants from East Azerbaijan province using the Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method. Blood samples were taken from the jugular vein of 100 healthy horses in the Ardabil province and 156 healthy sheep and goats (116 sheep and 40 goats) in the East Azerbaijan province during the spring and summer seasons of 2016 in northwest Iran. The collected blood samples were stored at -20°C until the molecular experiments were conducted. Nested PCR was employed to detectin horses andin small ruminants using extracted DNA and amplifyingandgenes. The Chi-square test of independence was used to determine the relationship between Anaplasma spp., infection, and independent variables, including age, gender, animal species, and sampling location. None of the 100 samples collected from horses in the Ardabil province were positive for. In the East Azerbaijan province, 11 out of the 156 (7.05%) blood samples collected from sheep and goats tested positive for. In addition, infection was not significantly related to the independent variables. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the sequence obtained in this study (MH790273) had 100% homology with the sequence obtained from sheep infected with Anaplasma in Ahvaz province (JQ621903.1). The findings of this study can contribute to the prevention and control of anaplasmosis in farm animals in northwestern Iran.