Future Perspectives on Veterinary Hemoparasite Research in the Tropics at the Start of this Century

Abstract

This paper has two main objectives: (1) to promote discussion about the future of veterinary hemoparasite research at the start of the twenty‐first century and the third millennium, and (2) to stimulate young students to start research on parasitology, in particular in the field of veterinary tropical diseases. It is well known that in the twenty‐first century human society will be challenged by several major problems resulting from the demographic explosion, since the Earth's population for the year 2020 will reach 8.5 billion, or 10 billion for the year 2050, as long as the birth rate decreases from 2.8 births per woman today to 2.0 by the year 2030 (data released by the U.N. Population Fund, 1998). Since the food production rate, either from plant or animal origin, is lower than the human birth rate, the challenge ahead will be to produce enough food for ten billion people. Consequently, to deal with this problem, especially in developing nations, it is proposed: (1) to give priority status to scientific research in the agriculture and animal fields; (2) to concentrate financial support and efforts for research especially on hemoparasitic diseases (i.e., babesiosis, anaplasmosis, cowdriosis, ehrlichiosis, and trypanosomosis), in particular to apply biotechnology techniques to those animal diseases; and (3) to grant a better role to studies on veterinary and medical parasitology in universities of the Americas and Europe, since in these universities parasitology is currently considered a secondary subject.

Bacteria of the genus Anaplasma - characteristics of Anaplasma and their vectors: a review

“…Such great losses are also recorded in Africa, where cattle are often the only means of income. This has bred the idea of genetically modifying the cattle to achieve an inborn resistance to A. marginale (Melendez, 2000).…”

“…Anaplasmosis, a disease caused by various species of anaplasma, is an especially important issue for animal breeders. Apart from the costs of the additional veterinary care, this disease reduces the animal's body weight, causes abortions, reduces milk production and frequently leads to death (Splitter et al, 1955;Sainz et al, 1999;Melendez, 2000;Stuen et al, 2002Stuen et al, , 2003. When it comes to effects on people, only the spe- cies A. phagocytophilum is pathogenic; it causes Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis (HGA).…”

Frequency of antibodies to Babesia bigemina, B. bovis, Anaplasma marginale, Trypanosoma vivax and Borrelia burdgorferi in cattle from the northeastern region of the state of Pará, Brazil

“…However, the most important economic constraint of hemoparasitic diseases to cattle production is on programs for genetic improvement of cattle, as imported Bos taurus cattle brought from temperate nations for breed improvement are highly susceptible to tick-borne diseases and often do not survive to become part of planned reproduction programs (MELENDEZ, 2000;KOCAN et al, 2003).…”

Molecular Investigation and Phylogeny of Anaplasma spp. in Mediterranean Ruminants Reveal the Presence of Neutrophil-Tropic Strains Closely Related to A. platys

“…Indeed, infection by Anaplasma spp. generates additional costs to veterinary care by causing reduction in animal body weight, decreases in milk production, abortions, and frequently death (6)(7)(8)(9).…”