Laboratory of Veterinary Microbiology, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Agriculture College of Yanbian University, No. 977 Park Road, Yanji, 133000, China.
Parasit Vectors. 2020 Sep 9;13(1):459. doi: 10.1186/s13071-020-04338-1.
Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a tick-borne hemoprotozoan disease of equids, caused by Theileria equi and Babesia caballi. Equine piroplasmosis represents a serious challenge to the equine industry due to important economic losses worldwide. The present study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of Theileria equi and Babesia caballi infections in equids from Jilin Province, China.
A total of 220 blood samples (192 horses and 28 donkeys/mules) were collected from March 2018 to October 2019 in five districts of Jilin Province and analyzed by PCR. Potential risk factors, including the region, sex, management, and host species of the animals were assessed in relation to T. equi infection. Moreover, the V4 hypervariable region of the T. equi 18S rRNA gene was analyzed to identify specific genotypes.
The overall prevalence of T. equi in equids was 27.7%, whereas B. caballi infection was not identified. The district with the highest positive rate was Baicheng (43.3%), followed by Tonghua (28.9%), Yanbian (26.4%), Jilin (23.3%), and Liaoyuan (20.9%). The sex of the animals and farm management were identified as main risk factors, which were significantly associated with the prevalence of Equine piroplasmosis (P < 0.05). The risk factor analysis indicated that the females were at a higher risk (OR: 2.48, 95% CI: 1.17-5.27) of being infected compared to the males, whereas the organized farm was protective factor (OR: 0.42, 95% CI: 0.22-0.80). The phylogenetic analyses revealed that there were two T. equi genotypes (A and E) in Jilin.
Our findings provided important epidemiological data for the prevention and control of T. equi infection in Jilin, China.
马梨浆虫病（EP）是一种由马梨浆虫和马巴贝斯虫引起的马属动物蜱传血液原生动物病。由于在全球范围内造成了重要的经济损失，马梨浆虫病对马业构成了严重挑战。本研究旨在评估中国吉林省马属动物中马梨浆虫和马巴贝斯虫感染的流行情况。
2018 年 3 月至 2019 年 10 月，从吉林省五个地区采集了 220 份血液样本（192 匹马和 28 头驴/骡），并通过 PCR 进行分析。评估了与 T. equi 感染相关的潜在风险因素，包括区域、性别、管理和宿主物种。此外，还分析了 T. equi 18S rRNA 基因的 V4 高变区，以鉴定特定基因型。
马属动物中 T. equi 的总感染率为 27.7%，而未发现 B. caballi 感染。阳性率最高的地区是白城（43.3%），其次是通化（28.9%）、延边（26.4%）、吉林（23.3%）和辽源（20.9%）。动物的性别和农场管理被确定为主要风险因素，与马梨浆虫病的流行显著相关（P < 0.05）。风险因素分析表明，与雄性相比，雌性感染的风险更高（OR：2.48，95%CI：1.17-5.27），而组织化农场是保护因素（OR：0.42，95%CI：0.22-0.80）。系统发育分析显示，吉林省存在两种 T. equi 基因型（A 和 E）。
本研究结果为中国吉林省 T. equi 感染的预防和控制提供了重要的流行病学数据。
