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The prevalence of Theileria spp. infecting sheep and goats were investigated in two cities and surroundings in northwest Saudi Arabia. Blood samples from 403 sheep and goats from Madina ( n = 201) and Tabuk ( n = 202) cities (177 from sheep and 226 from goats) were investigated. Blood samples were examined microscopically for the presence of intraerythrocytic bodies suggestive of Theileria as well as they were investigated using molecular techniques. DNA was extracted from blood and ticks and subjected to polymerase chain reaction amplification using specific primers. The primers used amplified a fragment of the 18S rRNA region (450 bp) targeting the hypervariable region IV. A total of 63 ticks belonging to five species were collected from sheep and goats for determination of their involvement of lifecycle of Theileria . Ticks were identified morphologically and confirmed molecularly utilizing cytochrome oxidase C subunit 1 gene (COXI) amplification. The results indicated that: microscopic examination revealed 24 (6%) of the samples investigated showed intraerythrocytic bodies suggestive of Theileria . Positive samples were only obtained from sheep whereas goats yielded negative results. A total of 33 (18.6%) sheep samples were positive for Theileria infection using polymerase chain reaction targeting the partial 18S rDNA and DNA sequencing. Theileria infection was more prevalent in animals that were less than 2 years of age compared with older animals. There was no difference in the prevalence of the infection between male and female sheep in both cities. All positive sheep were detected during the summer and none of the samples collected during the winter were positive. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the sequences obtained from Theileria species reported in the present study grouped with sequences from Theileria ovis from different countries. Ticks were identified as Hyalomma dromedarii , Hyalomma, marginatum , Hyalomma impeltatum and Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum . T. ovis DNA was detected from Hyalomma dromedarii and Hyalomma impeltatum suggesting that they are potential vectors of this piroplasm in sheep from Madina and Tabuk cities. This report is considered the first report of T. ovis infecting sheep from Madina and Tabuk, furthermore, it is the first report determining the vectors responsible for transmission of the infection in sheep in northwest Saudi Arabia. The data generated from this study will undoubtedly pave the way for the detection and control of ovine and caprine theileriosis in Madina and Tabuk regions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2024 Almahallawi et al.)

Raising small ruminants is the main source of income for farmers in Pakistan especially in rural areas of Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab. Despite having large sheep population, the prevalence of intra-erythrocytic protozoa, Theileria (T.) lestoquardi, has never been reported from this area. This study was conducted to fill this knowledge gap and 333 blood samples of apparently healthy small ruminants (168 sheep and 165 goats) along with their epidemiological data were collected from Dera Ghazi Khan district during August till November 2022. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis amplified a 785 base pair amplicon specific for the Merozoite surface antigen (ms 1-2) gene of T. lestoquardi in 2 out of the 168 (3.3%) sheep blood samples, while no goat blood sample out of 165 was found to be infected with T. lestoquardi. DNA sequencing confirmed the presence of Theileria lestoquardi in both samples and phylogenetic analysis revealed that these amplicon resembled the partial ms 1-2 gene sequences detected in small ruminants from Pakistan, India Iran and Egypt. All the studied epidemiological factors (age, sex, breed, size of herd, dogs with herd, composition of herd, size of herd and Tick burden on sheep) were not found associated with the prevalence of T. lestoquardi. In conclusion, this study reports a low prevalence of T. lestoquardi infection in the Dera Ghazi Khan District of Punjab, Pakistan. The data generated from this work will help pave the way for the prophylactic detection and control of ovine and caprine theileriosis in the region., Competing Interests: no competing interest of any sort with any one., (Copyright: © 2024 Ashraf et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Anaplasma spp. is a group of intra-erythrocytic bacteria that various species of ticks can transmit. Information regarding the prevalence of infections in sheep and goats caused by this group of organisms is scarce in Saudi Arabia. The present study was carried out during 2020–2021 to examine the prevalence of anaplasmosis among sheep and goats in two cities in western Saudi Arabia. The study included samples from 177 sheep (77 from Madina, 100 from Tabuk) and 226 goats (123 from Madina, 103 from Tabuk). The samples were investigated using direct microscopy method as well as a competitive Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Assay (cELISA) for the detection of anti- Anaplasma spp. antibodies. A total of 93 (23.1%) of the samples were positive on direct microscopy, whereas 84 (20.7%) were positive on cELISA. Of those samples positive on direct microscopy, 44 (19.5%) were from goats while 49 (27.7%) were from sheep. Of the positive samples on cELISA; 38 (17.0%) were from goats, and 46 (26.0%) were from sheep. A significant difference in the prevalence of anaplasmosis was reported (p < 0.05) using microscopic and cELISA in goats and sheep in both regions studied, having a higher prevalence in Tabuk. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of anaplasmosis in males and females from Madina and Tabuk using both methods (p > 0.05). However, there was a significant difference in the prevalence of anaplasmosis in older goats (>2 years) and in the summer compared to the winter in samples collected from Tabuk (p < 0.05). Seroprevalence of anaplasmosis was detected for the first time In the Tabuk region from sheep and goats. The difference in the prevalence in the two locations studied was probably due to the variation in climatic conditions and the availability of the vector responsible for the transmission of anaplasmosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]