The Prevalence and Molecular Characterization of Bovine Babesia Species and the First Report of B. bovis from Kashmir Himalayas

Bovine babesiosis, a global disease, has not been studied so far in Kashmir valley, which is having temperate type of climate as compared to rest of India having tropical to sub-tropical climate, so we felt the need to investigate it.

To diagnose the babesiosis in clinically suspected cattle (n=450), peripheral blood film examination and PCR tests using generic and species-specific primers targeting Babesia/Theleria genera and   B. bigemina, B. bovis as well as B. divergens, respectively were conducted. Four PCR products were sequenced and subjected to BLASTn analysis. Ticks were collected from the clinically suspected animals and identified as per the standard morphological keys.

The prevalence of babesiosis among suspected cattle in central Kashmir by peripheral blood film examination and PCR technique was 11.11% and 33.62%, respectively. The 18S rRNA gene of Isolate B1 of Babesia spp. showed 99.0 to 100% nucleotide sequence homology with 18S rRNA gene of different isolates of B. bigemina registered in the GenBank, while as 18S rRNA gene of Isolate Z showed 98.5 to 99.2% and 93.1 to 93.9% nucleotide sequence homology with 18S rRNA gene of different isolates of Babesia spp. and B. bigemina, respectively, registered in the GenBank. Rhipicephalus spp. and Haemaphysalis spp. were the two major tick genera identified in the present study.

Bovine Babesiosis in Kashmir is attributed to B. bovis,  B. bigemina and some other Babesia spp. or strains which needs further investigation. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Babesia bovis from northern India in cattle.