Esemu Seraphine N, Ndip Roland N, Ndip Lucy M
Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, University of Buea, P. O. Box 63, Buea, Cameroon.
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Buea, P. O. Box 63, Buea, Cameroon.
BMC Res Notes. 2018 Jun 14;11(1):388. doi: 10.1186/s13104-018-3479-2.
Ehrlichia ruminantium infection (heartwater) is a major constraint that impacts negatively on the cattle industry development in sub-Saharan Africa and so far, little is known of the presence of heartwater in cattle in Cameroon. This study sought to investigate the prevalence of E. ruminantium infection in cattle in Cameroon and to determine the predictors of infection.
A species-specific semi-nested pCS20 polymerase chain reaction was used to screen the buffy coats from 182 cattle (comprising 82 cattle that received intensive tick control regimen and 100 cattle on strategic tick control) from two study sites in Cameroon for E. ruminantium DNA in a cross-sectional study. E. ruminantium infection was confirmed in 12 (6.6%) of the 182 cattle comprising 11 that received intensive tick control and one on strategic tick control. Of the 12 cattle detected, 11 were apparently healthy and one was clinically diagnosed of heartwater. All DNA sequences of pCS20 amplicons were identical to each other (a representative sequence deposited in GenBank under accession number JQ039939). These findings which have veterinary and epidemiological significance, suggest the need for further investigation to determine the extent and role of heartwater in cattle in Cameroon.
反刍动物埃立克体感染（心水病）是撒哈拉以南非洲地区影响养牛业发展的主要制约因素，到目前为止，喀麦隆牛群中心水病的存在情况鲜为人知。本研究旨在调查喀麦隆牛群中反刍动物埃立克体感染的流行情况，并确定感染的预测因素。
在一项横断面研究中，采用种特异性半巢式pCS20聚合酶链反应，对来自喀麦隆两个研究地点的182头牛（包括82头接受强化蜱虫控制方案的牛和100头接受策略性蜱虫控制的牛）的血沉棕黄层进行筛查，以检测反刍动物埃立克体DNA。在182头牛中，有12头（6.6%）被确诊感染反刍动物埃立克体，其中11头接受强化蜱虫控制，1头接受策略性蜱虫控制。在检测出的12头牛中，11头表面健康，1头被临床诊断为心水病。pCS20扩增子的所有DNA序列彼此相同（一个代表性序列已存入GenBank，登录号为JQ039939）。这些具有兽医和流行病学意义的发现表明，需要进一步调查以确定心水病在喀麦隆牛群中的影响范围和作用。
