Objective:To determine the prevalence of Anaplasma marginale (A.marginale) and Anaplasma ovis from sheep and goat in different highland pasture in west of lran.Methods:From July 2015 to October 2015,370 blood samples of sheep and goat were collected fiom different regions in Hamedan province,Iran.The DNA extracted fiom blood and subsequently,16S rRNA and MSP4 genes were analyzed by nested-PCR,semi nested-PCR and RFLP methods.Results:In the PCR assessment,overall 27.5％ (102/370) of sheep and goat were positive for Anaplasma ovis and A.margiule infection,which was lower than reports from tropical and subtropical regions of lran.Statistical analysis (the Chi-square test) did not show any significant relation between infection and variables such as location,tick infestation age and sex (P ＞ 0.05).No significant correlation between the altitude and the Anaplasma species infection was found (Mann-Whitney test:P ＞ 0.05).However,Anaplasma infection in goat significantly is more than the sheep (P =0.008).Conclusions:The ecological changes affect the frequency and distribution of Anaplasma species.Furthermore,our results indicate that sheep as potential reservoirs ofA.marginale.

The geographical distribution and ecological preferences of Haemaphysalis in domestic animals in Iran were studied 4 times a year from April 2003 to March 2005. A total of 1,622 ixodid tick specimens were collected from 3 different zones. Among them, 108 (6.7%) Haemaphysalis ticks, consisting of 6 species, were identified; H. punctata (3.4%), H. parva (0.5%), H. sulcata (0.6%), H. choldokovskyi (1.7%), H. concinna (0.06%) and Haemaphysalis sp. (0.6%). H. punctata was the most abundant species, whereas H. concinna was the rarest species collected in humid and sub-humid zones on cattle, sheep and goats. H. choldokovskyi was principally collected from sheep and goats grazed in cold mountainous areas. The infested areas consisted of Caspian Sea (Guilan, Mazandaran, Golestan, and central provinces), mountainous (Azarbaiejan, Ardebil, Kohgilouyeh, and Kordestan) and semi-dessert (Khorasan, Semnan, Kerman, Sistan, and Baluchestan) zones. The Caspian Sea zone (23.6%) was the most highly infested region. The results show that various species of Haemaphysalis ticks infest domestic ruminants in Iran and each tick species show characteristic geographical distributions.
Animals ; Camels ; Cattle ; Ecosystem ; Geography ; Goats ; Iran/epidemiology ; Ixodidae/*classification ; Ruminants/*parasitology ; Sheep ; Tick Infestations/epidemiology/*veterinary

Objective To determine the prevalence of Anaplasma marginale (A. marginale) and Anaplasma ovis from sheep and goat in different highland pasture in west of Iran. Methods From July 2015 to October 2015, 370 blood samples of sheep and goat were collected from different regions in Hamedan province, Iran. The DNA extracted from blood and subsequently, 16S rRNA and MSP4 genes were analyzed by nested-PCR, semi nested-PCR and RFLP methods. Results In the PCR assessment, overall 27.5% (102/370) of sheep and goat were positive for Anaplasma ovis and A. marginale infection, which was lower than reports from tropical and subtropical regions of Iran. Statistical analysis (the Chi-square test) did not show any significant relation between infection and variables such as location, tick infestation age and sex (P > 0.05). No significant correlation between the altitude and the Anaplasma species infection was found (Mann–Whitney test: P > 0.05). However, Anaplasma infection in goat significantly is more than the sheep (P = 0.008). Conclusions The ecological changes affect the frequency and distribution of Anaplasma species. Furthermore, our results indicate that sheep as potential reservoirs of A. marginale.