Epidemiologic study on Besnoitia besnoiti infection in dairy herds in Jordan

Abstract

Besnoitia besnoiti is an apicomplexan parasite and the causative agent of bovine besnoitiosis which is considered as a re-emergent disease in Europe. A cross-sectional serological study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence and to identify risk factors associated with B. besnoiti infection in 68 dairy herds (n = 806 cows) in Jordan during the period from January to June 2007 and the spring of 2014. Data regarding herd's management was obtained by filling questionnaires through personal interviews with farmers. An indirect ELISA test was used to detect antibodies against B. besnoiti. Chi-square analysis and multivariable logistic regression model were used to identify risk factors associated with seropositivity to B. besnoiti. At the individual cow and herd level, the true prevalence of seropositive animals was 6 and 28.7 %, respectively. Cows between 2 and 6 years of age had significantly higher seroprevalence of B. besnoiti than other age groups. The highest seroprevalence of B. besnoiti was found in Zarqa and Irbid governorates. Multivariable logistic regression model identified that exchanging visits by farm workers to neighboring farms as a risk factor for seropositivity to B. besnoiti, while smaller herd size and twice a day farm cleaning using sweeping and water hosing were identified as protective factors. This is the first study that investigated the seroprevalence of B. besnoiti infection in dairy herds in Jordan. Further studies are warranted to explore the clinical manifestation of B. besnoiti infection as well as to identify the possible presence of other Besnoitia species and definitive hosts for the parasite.

Serological dynamics and risk factors of Besnoitia besnoiti infection in breeding bulls from an endemically infected purebred beef herd

“…On the contrary, age was associated to seropositivity, i.e. the risk of infection increased with the increasing of age, as previously observed , Talafha et al 2015, Gazzonis et al 2014.…”

Besnoitiosis: An Emerging Parasitic Disease in Yaks (Bos grunniens) and Tibetan Sheep (Ovies aries) on the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau, China

“…The seroprevalence of besnoitiosis infection in Tibetan sheep was 3.21%, which was in concomitant with the results reported in sheep (4.68%) in Spain (Gutiérrez-Expósito et al, 2017). In current research, area, year and age were found to be associated risk factors of besnoitiosis in Tibetan sheep and yak, which was in accordance with the previous studies (Talafha et al, 2015;Gazzonis et al, 2017). Sex, in the present study was not shown to be a risk factor both in yaks and Tibetan sheep which contradicted with previous results in which had presented male cattle at higher risk of infection (Gazzonis et al, 2017).…”

“…Since the first discovery of B. besnoiti in France (Waap et al, 2014), it has been reported in many countries (Waap et al, 2014;Langenmayer et al, 2015;Liénard et al, 2015;Talafha et al, 2015). The current study herein is aimed to report the prevalence of besnoitiosis in yaks (1.10%), which is in line with previous studies.…”

“…The current study herein is aimed to report the prevalence of besnoitiosis in yaks (1.10%), which is in line with previous studies. Although the seropositive results of B. besnoiti in yaks in China is less in other countries including Jordan (6.0%) (Talafha et al, 2015), France (5.1%) (Waap et al, 2014); and Korea (3.4%) (Lee et al, 2017); however, it is much lesser with the bovine in Ireland (68%) (Ryan et al, 2016) and Italy (22.7%) (Gazzonis et al, 2014). The seroprevalence of besnoitiosis infection in Tibetan sheep was 3.21%, which was in concomitant with the results reported in sheep (4.68%) in Spain (Gutiérrez-Expósito et al, 2017).…”

Seroprevalence and risk factors of Besnoitia besnoiti infection in Korean cattle – short communication

“…Bovine besnoitiosis has been reported worldwide, including countries in Africa, Asia, America, and Europe (Lee et al, 1970;EFSA, 2010;Olias et al, 2011;Rinaldi et al, 2013;Cortes et al, 2014;Álvarez-García et al, 2014;Ashmawy and Abu-Akkada, 2014;Talafha et al, 2015). Many studies were published before 1992, and the disease apparently receded between 1992 and 2001 (Olias et al, 2011).…”