Epidemiology and Haemato-biochemical studies in theileriosis infected cattle

Introduction

Bovine Theileriosis is one of the most prevalent and economically significant diseases of cattle. Exotic and crossbred cattle are more susceptible than the indigenous breeds of cattle. Theileria spp. is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasites. Taxonomically they are placed under Phylum: Apicomplexa, Class: Piroplasmasida, Order: piroplasmorida and Genus: Theileriae under Family: Theileridae. It infects wild and domestic animals throughout the world. In life cycles of Theileria spp. both invertebrate and vertebrate hosts are involved and it is transmitted by vectors like ticks of family Ixoxidae (Perera et al., 2013) [18] . Theileria spp. are small round, ovoid, irregular or bacilliform shaped parasites with an apical complex comprised only of rhoptrics. Theileria spp. can be found in both erythrocytes and lymphocytes of their host. the vector responsible for transmission is biting tick Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum. (Neits, 1967) [15] . Theileria sporozoites are transmitted to susceptible animals via saliva of feeding ticks. The clinical signs of theileriosis in cattle include anorexia, enlargement of superficial lymphnode, drop in milk yield, nasal discharges, lacrimation, dyspnoea, anaemia and in later stage some time diarrhoea and dysentery. Haematological and sero-biochemical alterations are the indicators of severity of disease and are considered to be good tools for the diagnosis and prognosis for effective therapy (Nazifi et al., 2010) [14] .

Materials and Methods

The present investigation was undertaken from a period of January 2021 to June 2021. Total 135 samples were collected from cattle which were suspected for theileriosis presented at the Veterinary Clinical Complex (VCC), Veterinary College, Anand, and nearby villages of Anand district. The such suspected cattle were screened on the basis of clinical signs and blood smear examination (Giemsa's stain). The information on epidemiological parameter such as age, sex, breed, body condition score, types of floor, housing system and hygienic condition etc. were also collected in present study. All animals were grouped as per their age into following class < 6 months, 6 months to 3 years, 3 years to 6 years, 6 years to 10 years and > 10 years. Body condition score was classified in to three categories, i.e., Good/Fair/Poor. Floor wise incidence was calculated according to types of floor, i.e., kachha and pakka floor. Housing system wise incidence was calculated according to loose housing and conventional housing system and hygienic condition wise incidence was calculated based on three categories i.e., Good/Fair/Poor. Blood samples (4 ml) were collected from jugular vein in sterile plastic K 3 EDTA vials from all 6 healthy and 6 affected animals before the initiation of treatment for haematological analysis by Automatic Whole Blood Analyzer (Abacus Junior Vet-5) and 8 ml blood was collected in clot activator vials for serum. The serum biochemical parameters studied included, Total Protein g/dl, Total Bilirubin mg/dl, Total Glucose mg/dl, Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) U/L, Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) U/L, Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase (GGT) U/L, Serum Creatinine mg/dl, Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) mg/dl by using standard assay kits with the help of Clinical Serum Biochemistry Auto-analyser (CKK 300). The data was analyzed by using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) by using standard statistical techniques described by Snedecor and Cochran (1994) [20] .

Results and Discussion

In this study, a total number of 135 cattle suspected for theileriosis were screened on the basis of clinical signs and blood smear examination (Giemsa's stain). Out of 135 cattle 64 animals were diagnosed for theileriosis contributing overall incidence of 47.41 percent. The overall incidence of theileriosis is reported in Table1. The higher incidence rate of theileriosis has been reported (ranging between 25.00 to 50.00 percent) by Ananda et al. (2009) [4] and Durrani et al. (2010) [6] . At the time of sample collection age, sex, breed, body condition score, floor type, hosing system and hygienic condition etc. were collected. The clinical findings recorded in the affected animals were anorexia, dullness, depression, decreased milk production, weakness, salivation, enlarged prescapular lymphnodes, pale conjunctival mucous membrane, presence of ticks over the body, emaciation, nasal discharge, cessation of rumination, lacrimation, diarrhoea and sternal recumbency. Age wise incidence of theileriosis was found to be the highest in age group 6-10 years (27/50, 54.00%), followed by 3 [4] and Brahma et al. (2018) [5] . The higher incidence of theileriosis in cattle above 3 years of age might be due to increased stress, increased number of lactation, increased production and weakening of body immune system. The sex wise incidence was higher in female (61/123, 49.59%) than in male (3/12, 25%). The detailed results are presented in Table 2. Similar findings was accordance with Panda et al. (2011). This type of observation might be due to interest in raising female calves by the farmers for milk production purpose. The breed wise incidence found was higher in HF crosses (56/107, 52.34%) than the indigenous breeds (8/28, 28.57%). The details of the results are presented Table 3. The present finding are in agreement with Farooq et al. (2019) [8] . This finding might be due to higher susceptibility of HF cross bred cattle to this disease than indigenous cattle breeds. ). The animals kept in a loose housing are more prone to the infection than conventional housing, because in loose housing system movement of animals is more so there are more chances to get the infection. The detailed results are presented in Table 5. The hygienic condition wise incidence was higher (35/55, 63.64%) in poor hygienic condition, followed by fair hygienic condition (24/59, 40.68%) and in good hygienic condition (5/21, 23.81%). The detailed results are presented in Table 6. [13] and Agina et al. (2020) [3] . Two forms of schizonts were recognized. Those which contained large chromatin granules were referred as macroschizonts, while those with small chromatin granules as microschizonts. The lymphocytes with macroschizonts are commonly known as Koch's blue bodies. These findings occurred well with the earlier observation of Ugalmugal et al. (2010) [23] and Modi et al. (2015) [12] .

Haematological Findings

The haematological examination revealed that the mean±SE values of haemoglobin, packed cell volume, total erythrocytes count and lymphocytes were significantly decreased (p<0.05) in theileriosis infected cattle as compared to healthy cattle. Similar findings reported by Durrani et al. (2010) [6] , Tehrani et al. (2013) [21] and Kachhawa et al. (2016) [10] . Neutrophils were significantly increased (p<0.05) and total leucocytes count, monocytes and eosinophils were non-significantly increased in theileriosis infected cattle as compared to healthy cattle. Similar observation reported by Tuli et al. (2015) [22] and Pandey et al. (2017) [17] . However, there was significant (p<0.05) increase in mean corpuscular haemoglobin and non-significant increase in mean corpuscular volume, while mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration was nonsignificantly decreased in theileriosis infected cattle as compared to healthy cattle. Similar findings reported by Emarah et al. (2012) [7] and Goyal (2018) [9] . The results of haematological values presented in Table 4.

Biochemical Findings

The serum biochemical examinations revealed that the mean±SE values of total protein and albumin were decreased non-significantly, while total glucose was decreased significantly (p<0.05) in theileriosis infected cattle as compared to healthy group. Similar findings reported by Sandhu et al. (1998) [19] , Khan et al. (2011) [11] and Kachhawa et al. (2016) [10] . Gamma glutamyl transferase and aspartate aminotransferase were increased significantly (p<0.05), but total bilirubin and alanine were increased non-significantly in theileriosis infected cattle as compared to healthy cattle. Similar findings noted by Acharya et al. (2017) [2] and Abubakar et al. (2019) [1] . Serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen were showed non-significant difference in theileriosis infected cattle.

Conclusion

The overall incidence of theileriosis in cattle was 47.41% among suspected cattle. Age wise incidence was found higher in 6-10 years of age group (54.00%). The HF crossbred cattle were found most susceptible as compared to indigenous breeds. The incidence of theileriosis was found highest in poor body condition score, animal kept on kaccha floor and loose housing system. Theileriosis infected cattle causes significant decreased values of haemoglobin, packed cell volume, total erythrocytes count, lymphocytes, MCHC with neutrophilia, eosinophilia, and increased values of MCV and MCH as compared to healthy animals. The macrocytic hypochromic anaemia was found in theileriosis cattle. Biochemical observations revealed decreased values of total protein and albumin, while increased values of total bilirubin, AST, ALT and GGT compared to healthy animals.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgementAuthors are grateful to the Dean of Veterinary College, and authorities of AAU, Anand for the facilities and encouragement provided for this work.

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