Molecular Detection of Anaplasmosis in Crossbred Cattle.

Bovine anaplasmosis is an infectious, non-contagious, tick-borne disease of domestic as well as wild ruminants caused by obligate intraerythrocytic parasites of family Anaplasmataceae and genus Anaplasma. Fifty blood samples were collected from crossbred cattle in a dairy farm with a history of a drastic decrease in milk yield and fever in a few animals. Six (12%) samples showed characteristic Anaplasma organisms when stained with Giemsa's stain, whereas 19 (38%) samples were found positive for A. marginale by PCR assay. Low hemoglobin and total erythrocyte count were observed, whereas an increase in total leucocyte count was noted in Anaplasma affected animals compared to healthy animals at the same farm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]