Molecular prevalence and phylogenetic analysis of Theileria annulata and Trypanosoma evansi in cattle in Northern Tunisia.

Abstract: The present study aimed to estimate the molecular prevalence of <italic>Theileria annulata</italic> and <italic>Trypanosoma evansi</italic> infection in cattle in Northern Tunisia. A total number of 96 cattle from five farms were evaluated. <italic>T. annulata</italic> and <italic>T. evansi</italic> prevalences were 61% [56/66] and 10% [7/13], respectively, at a confidence interval (CI) of 95%, while co‐infection was present in 6% [4/8] of the tested animals at a CI of 95%. There was a significant correlation between age and the prevalence of <italic>T. annulata</italic> infection, whereas, there was no significant association shown with the age of cattle and <italic>T. evansi</italic> infection. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses showed that the <italic>T. annulata</italic> Tams1 gene and <italic>T. evansi </italic>ITS1 rDNA gene were highly conserved with 97.1–100% and 98.3–100% sequence identity, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]