Anaplasmosis in Cattle in Italy

Bovine anaplasmosis caused by Anaplasma marginale is a disease transmitted by ticks belonging to the Ixodidae family. Southern Italy is considered an endemic zone but environmental and social factors are changing the epidemiology of the disease to expand to previously anaplasmosis-free regions. The available data of published reports of anaplasmosis in Italy together with the data obtained by the National Centre of Reference for Anaplasma, Babesia, Rickettsia and Theileria (C.R.A.Ba.R.T.), allowed to report A. marginale infection in different Italian regions (Lazio, Marche, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Lombardy, Tuscany, Umbria and Sicily). Cattle are also subject to infection with the related Ixodes ricinus-transmitted pathogen, Anaplasma phagocytophilum that results in reduced milk production in cattle. A. phagocytophilum infect also small ruminants, domestic and wild animals and causes the human granulocytic anaplasmosis. Different studies have been conducted on the presence of A. phagocytophilum in Italy both in the tick vectors and in the wild and domestic reservoirs. Contrary to A. marginale, the prevalence of A. phagocytophilum embraces the whole Italian territory from the Alps to the southern and insular regions.