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Theileriosis is a tick‐borne protozoal disease caused by a piroplasm of the genus Theileria. Hard ticks are obligate hematophagous ectoparasites that serve as vectors of Theileria spp. Studies of the presence of theileriosis in Egyptian dogs and associated ticks are scarce. This study was conducted to detect and identify Theileria spp. in dogs and Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks and to monitor the epidemiological data of this disease. The prevalence rates of Theileria equi infection were 12.02%, 0.73%, 2.93%, and 1.83% by microscopic examination of dog blood, tick hemolymph, tick midgut, and tick salivary smears, respectively. Conversely, the T. equi prevalence in dog blood and associated ticks assessed by PCR was 25.81% and 10.42%, respectively. Epidemiological data about Theileria infection revealed a significant difference in the infection between different seasons and different dog breeds (p value <0.05), whereas host, sex, and age of dogs had no significant effect on the infection. Sequencing of PCR products showed that all PCR positive samples were infected with T. equi. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) described the different stages of Theileria in the midgut and salivary gland of infected ticks. The current study confirmed that T. equi is not specific to equine hosts, and confirmed that dogs are a susceptible host to T. equi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted on a total of 187 one humped camels (Camelus dromedarius). Blood samples were collected from 40 camels suspected forTrypanosoma infection from farms at Giza Pyramids area. In addition, 147 samples were collected from apparently healthy camels (97 and 50 from El-Bassatin and El-Warraq abattoirs respectively) for screening of Trypanosoma species infection. All samples were examined parasitologically by Giemsa stained blood smear and haematocrit centrifugation technique, serologically by card agglutination test (CATT) for detection of anti-trypanosomal antibodies and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for DNA amplification with aspecific primers for detection of trypanozoan parasites. Out of 187 camels, 14 camels were positive by parasitological methods with a percentage of 7.49%, 21 positive samples were detected by anti- Trypanosoma antibodies using CATT with a percentage of 11.23%. Fourteen out of the positive blood samples by parasitological and serological techniques were used for PCR amplification. Thirteen out of 14 positive blood samples were PCR-positive and one was negative by using specific primers for T. evansi minicircle EVA1 and EVA2. The results of examined camels after using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of DNA of trypanosomes in infected camels, showed 138 bp PCR product for the specific detection of Trypanosoma evansi. It was concluded that the use of PCR, beside parasitological and serological methods, is recommended for exact diagnosis in survey and control programmes ofTrypanosoma evansi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]