Transmission of Theileriosis in the Traditional Farming Sector in the Southern Province of Zambia during 1995–1996

The incidence of first contact with the protozoan Theileria parva was determined in three traditional cattle herds in the Southern Province of Zambia in 1995 and 1996. The majority of first contacts occurred during the dry season in June, July and August, at a time of nymphal activity and in the absence of Rhipicephalus appendiculatus adults, indicating that larva to nymph transmission plays a more prominent role than nymph to adult transmission under the prevailing conditions.     

New method using quantitative PCR to follow the tick blood meal and to assess the anti-feeding effect of topical acaricide against Rhipicephalus sanguineus on dogs

A 28-day study was conducted to assess the dynamic of blood feeding by Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks on dogs treated or not with a novel topical combination of fipronil, amitraz and (S)-methoprene. Dogs were infested weekly through exposure to ticks in crates for 4 h. Ticks were then counted in the crates at 2 h and 4 h post dog exposure. Ticks were also counted and removed from the dogs at 2 h, 4 h, 6 h, 12 h and 24 h post tick exposure. The inhibition of blood feeding was assessed by both tick quantification and designing and performing a quantitative PCR (qPCR) to detect the canine hydroxymethylbilane synthase (HMBS) gene in ticks. The percentage of repellency sensu lato based on the ticks collected in crates at 2 h varied from 4.7% at day 28 to 48.3% at day 7. The immediate mortality rate of the ticks expelled at 2 h varied from 1.5% at day 21 to 31.7% at day 7. The efficacy calculation showed that the acaricidal combination started to kill ticks in as little as 2 h. The average efficacy reached 90.0% at 12 h post crate challenges and 100% at 24 h post exposure in crates. The inclusion of an internal amplification control was used to ensure that no significant template-derived PCR inhibition (≤6.2%) affected the overall results. The reduction of blood feeding was significant at 4 h (>80.0%) and >99.0% at 24 h post tick exposure in the crate. The high repellency rate and the lethal efficacy of CERTIFECT^® resulted in significantly fewer live attached ticks, consequently reducing blood intake and fluid exchanges.     

Effect of new ethyl and methyl carbamates on Rhipicephalus microplus larvae and adult ticks resistant to conventional ixodicides

The effects of six new synthetic carbamates on fully engorged females of four Rhipicephalus microplus strains (one reference strain susceptible to conventional ixodicides, two strains multiresistant to ixodicides and one tick field isolate) were compared. In addition, the effect of two other new synthetic carbamates was tested on larvae from the same strains. The first six tested carbamates reduced egg laying and inhibited egg hatching in the four studied strains (P < 0.05). Compared with untreated females, the eggs produced by the treated engorged female ticks of all strains had a dark, dry, opaque appearance and were less adherent. The remaining two tested carbamates induced larval mortality in all of the evaluated strains. The three studied R. microplus strains displayed 50% resistance ratios (RR₅₀) of less than 2 when compared to the susceptible reference strain. These results demonstrate that both carbamates with a larvicidal effect and carbamates that inhibit egg laying and embryo development are efficacious against tick strains that are resistant to commercial ixodicides, no cross resistance was observed.     

The effects of non-specifically activated immunity in rabbits on primary infestation with Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi

The secondary antibody response to sheep red blood cells and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was measured in rabbits infested with adult Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi. The response was reduced (particularly for BSA) but still displayed anamnestic characteristics. Resistance against ixodid ticks associated with antibodies detected by gel diffusion and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay techniques early in the primary challenge was acquired by the immunized hosts only. This suggests that a non-specifically activated immune system enables hosts to develop rapid resistance against tick parasitism.     

Serologically defined Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus larval antigens in BmLF3, a partially pure Sephacryl S-300 fraction of crude larval proteins

This report is designed to provide additional information regarding larval soluble proteins toward the planned development of a comprehensive database of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus proteins that elicit a humoral immune response in cattle as a result of natural ectoparasite infestation. Larval proteins of R. microplus are complex and the protein profile is not dominated by any major proteins. This report focuses upon an S-300 Sephacryl (molecular sieve) column fraction, fraction 3 (BmLF3). With the use of SDS-PAGE (without-2ME) and Western blotting with a composite pool of pre- and post-R. microplus larval infestation antiserum BmLF3 was found to contain 7 apparent common ixodid major antigens (207.3, 171.9, 98.0, 86.5, 65.7, 58.9, and 38.0 kDa), those potentially shared with other ixodid species, and 2 apparent R. microplus specific antigens evidenced by low-level antibody binding in crude BmLF3 (149.4 kDa) and HPLC peak 8 of BmLF3 (116.0 kDa). In addition, BmLF3 contains potent inhibitors of trypsin activity. However, these inhibitors of trypsin did not appear to elicit host antibodies as a result of natural ectoparasite exposure, as defined by Western blotting of reduced and denatured trypsin binding proteins purified by affinity chromatography.     

新疆南疆微小牛蜱Bm86基因及其编码蛋白剖析

为了能高效表达理想的微小牛蜱抗原,本研究对新疆生产建设兵团塔里木畜牧科技重点实验室已获得的Bm86基因（Bm86 Tarim）进行遗传进化分析,并对其编码蛋白进行生物学信息分析。结果显示本研究获得的新疆南疆微小牛蜱Bm86 Tarim序列与已登录的所有国外Bm86基因完整阅读框序列的核苷酸和氨基酸同源性分别为95.9%～98.6%和93.8%～97.8%,差异极小;遗传进化树分析结果显示本研究毒株与已登录多数毒株在同一分支内;生物学信息预测结果显示该蛋白不稳定,不溶性的概率为93.26%,有4个潜在糖基化位点。本试验结果为后续Bm86基因表达、免疫抗原制备和抗微小牛蜱疫苗的研制奠定基础。     

Acaricidal effects of the essential oil of Origanum minutiflorum (Lamiaceae) against Rhipicephalus turanicus (Acari: Ixodidae)

The acaricidal effects of the volatile essential oil Origanum minutiflorum O. Schwarz & P.H. Davis (Lamiaceae) against adult Rhipicephalus turanicus was evaluated at a variety of concentrations and exposure times. Generally tick mortality increased with concentration and exposure. Ticks exposed to vapors from cotton wicks containing at least 10 μl/L resulted in complete (100%) mortality at 120 min. The major constituent of essential oil obtained from the plant material of O. minutiflorum was carvacrol.     

PCR-based detection of Theileria ovis in Rhipicephalus bursa adult ticks

Tick-borne diseases in ruminants are common in tropical and subtropical regions and lead to meat and milk production losses. In this study, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to assess the presence of Theileria ovis in Rhipicephalus bursa ticks. We have demonstrated that the PCR enabled detection of T. ovis in field isolates of R. bursa collected from naturally infested sheep and goats in eastern Turkey. The sampling was done in spring season (between May and June 2004). A total of 420 R. bursa were collected and randomly selected 192 number of them (97 female and 95 male) were dissected. Primers specific for 520 bp fragments small subunit ribosomal RNA (ssu rRNA) gene of T. ovis amplified products from 37 of the 192 (19.27%) samples. The parasite was detected in 17 (17.52%) female and in 20 (21.05%) male ticks. Two T. ovis amplicons from the tick samples were purified and sequenced. The resulting sequences were identical to the nucleotide sequence of the Turkish sheep strain of T. ovis. These results showed that R. bursa might play an important role in the field as a natural vector of T. ovis.     

应用镰形扇头蜱及巴贝斯虫病水牛的染虫血感染黄牛试验

从非流行区购进无蜱寄生的健康黄牛５头与水牛犊１头，其中３头成年黄牛（２～８岁）在畜舍内用从流行区水牛身上采得的镰形扇头蜱Ｒｈｉｐｉｃｅｐｈａｌｕｓｈａｅｍａｐｈｙｓａｌｏｉｄｅｓｈａｅｍａｐｈｙｓａｌｏｉｄｅｓ成虫，置于牛耳壳内叮咬；１头运至流行区放牧，让蜱上身叮咬；１头黄牛犊（１０年龄）去蜱后２周，用液氮保存的患病水牛染虫血４ｍｌ（４×１０ ８个虫体）皮下注射；另一头去蜱水牛犊亦同时注射相同剂量的染虫血，作为对照。５头黄牛在试验期间其体温、精神、食欲正常，未出现任何临床症状，感染后１０～１２ｄ外周血液中出现少量不典型的牛巴贝斯虫，红细胞染虫率在０．１％以下，持续３～５６消失；对照牛则体温升高（３９．８～４１．１℃），出现贫血、黄疸等症状，红细胞压积（ＰＣＶ）降至２６％，外周血液中出现典型的牛巴贝斯虫，红细胞染虫率（ＰＰＥ）高达１２％。对采用蜱叮咬及注射来自病水牛的染虫血为何不能使黄牛感染发病，文中进行了讨论。