Student Ready Project Formulation Execution and Presentation (Bts-421) Comparative Study of Microscopy With Pcr For the Diagnosis of Theileriosis in Cattle

Abstract

Tropical U1eileriosis has long been recognized a~ a hindrance to the development of dairy industry in the India and is a cause of major economic losses. Serologtcal surveys indicated that Theder1a annul uta infection i~ "'idcspread in the country but the disease mostly affeclS exotic dail) breeds and their crosses with indigenous breeds. The prevalence of Thei leria infection in tick vector Hyalomma anntolicum collected from healthy ammals of Sub-humid regions of India. Theileria caused by 17teileria amtUlllla is economically imponant vector borne Haemoproto7oan disease of livestock. Theileria is responsible for causing theileriosis resulting in death of affected animals. The disease is endemic in warmer regions, it is seasonal and the incidence is higher during summer and rainy season when the ticks have higher activity although sporadic outbreaks have been recorded year-round. h is a potential killer of livestock and causes economic losses in terms of monality, morbidity, abonion, infenility, reduced milk yield etc. The disease is underestimated in cattle due to sub clinical nature. The conventional parasitological techniques are less sensiti\'e. More than 80 percent of infections are cryptic and undetectable by direct microscopy. So, a comparative study was performed in microscopy and PCR. The current study was perfom1ed in and around Meerut district, Uttar Pradesh. The study is done in the months of March to May 2023. A total of 34 fresh samples were collected directly from the jugular vein of cattle The blood ~amples are collected in a capped clean and dry vial containmg the appropriate amount of anticoagulant. The anticoagulant used in this project work is EDTA@ 1-2mg/ml of blood Out of 34 samples examined in Giemsa-stained microscopic examination, 17 are found posittve for Theilerw spp. infection whereas in PCR based detection out of34 animals 21 were reponed positive for the Theileria amwlara infection in cattle. The current study revealed the presence of Theileria piroplasm m microscopic examination is 50% and PCR detection reponed 61.76%. The result obtamed in this stud) mdicatcs that PCR is more efficient in detectmg theileriosis than the conventional staining technique. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based assays permit identification of parasite at levels far below the detection I imit of the commonly used parasitological techniques. The high efficacy and sensitivit)' ofPCR makes it an anracti\e tool in diagnosis of the tick-borne infections. PCR can be used for accurate diagnosis of theileriosis, and can also be used 10 detect the carrier animals. There is an urgem need to asstss the actual status of these infections which is possible only by carl)·ing out sune)s as conducted in the present study.