Department of Internal and Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Mosul, Mosul, Nineveh, Iraq.
Office of Vice President for Scientific Affairs, University of Al-Hamdaniya, Bartella, Nineveh, Iraq.
PLoS One. 2022 Feb 22;17(2):e0264121. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264121. eCollection 2022.
Several local studies have examined evidence of blood parasites in different animals in Mosul; however, information about the most prevalent parasite and the seasonality of the infection remains limited. The objective of the study conducted here was to investigate the proportion and seasonality of blood parasites in animals in Mosul using the Veterinary Teaching Hospital Lab data. Laboratory records for a period of 25 months were used for data retrieval. In all included animals, Giemsa-stained blood smears were examined by an attending clinical pathologist for the presence of parasites. Seasons were assigned on a basis of examination date, and the seasonality was quantified by estimating season-to-season ratio. The results indicated that 61.77% of examined animals were tested positive for blood parasites. The most evident parasites were Trypanosoma spp., Theileria spp., Babesia spp., and then Anaplasma spp., with evidence of mixed infection. The odds of the infection did not significantly vary in different age groups. There was a marked linear pattern in the seasonality of the infection with Trypanosoma spp. and Anaplasma spp. An increase of the infection during spring and autumn with Theileria spp. and Babesia spp. was also evident. In conclusion, infection with blood parasites in different animals in Mosul is common with substantial burden, the effect of age-related infection is negligible, and the seasonality of the infection is evident.
已有几项当地研究调查了摩苏尔不同动物血液寄生虫的证据；然而，有关最常见寄生虫和感染季节性的信息仍然有限。本研究的目的是利用兽医教学医院实验室数据，调查摩苏尔动物血液寄生虫的比例和季节性。使用了 25 个月的实验室记录来检索数据。在所有纳入的动物中，由一名主治临床病理学家用吉姆萨染色血液涂片检查寄生虫的存在。根据检查日期分配季节，并通过估计季节间比例来量化季节性。结果表明，61.77%的检查动物血液寄生虫检测呈阳性。最明显的寄生虫是锥虫、泰勒虫、巴贝斯虫，然后是无形体，有混合感染的证据。不同年龄组的感染几率没有显著差异。感染的季节性呈明显的线性模式，锥虫和无形体呈季节性。春季和秋季的感染也明显增加，泰勒虫和巴贝斯虫也是如此。总之，摩苏尔不同动物的血液寄生虫感染很常见，负担很大，年龄相关感染的影响可以忽略不计，感染的季节性很明显。
