Hematology and serology analysis of healthy and Anaplasma phagocytophilum infected equids in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

Anaplasma phagocytophilum is an obligatory intracellular bacterium that causes equine granulocytic anaplasmosis (EGA), that is characterized by fever, anorexia, depression, limb oedema. Hematological and serological alterations are important findings during the disease. We analyzed whole blood and serum from 37 horses and mules from three locations in Minas Gerais, Brazil, for total blood cell count, leucocytes, platelets, renal and hepatic profiles. Equids infected by A. phagocytophilum had differences in blood cell count and renal and hepatic profiles. As a zoonosis, the study of equine A. phagocytophilum infection in areas with high population density and in breeding farms, is important to understand the disease dynamics and avoid human cases of anaplasmosis.