Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and distribution of tick-borne diseases in cattle in Sargodha district, Pakistan. Samples were randomly collected each month from selected small holders (n = 30) having 1 to 10 cattle and private livestock farms (n = 4) having ≥ 50 cattle. Indigenous and crossbred cattle of both sexes were sampled. Microscopic examination of the Giemsa stained blood smears revealed an overall prevalence of haemoparasites as 26.86%. Anaplasma marginale was the most prevalent (9.71%) hemoparasite of cattle followed by Theileria annulata (6.86%) and Babesia bigemina (6.57%), respectively. Crossbred cattle (29.1%) were more susceptible to tick-borne diseases (TBDs) as compared to the indigenous cattle (17.7%). Sex wise prevalence indicated that female animals (26%) were more prone to TBDs than males (17%). The highest prevalence of tick-borne diseases was recorded in July except for T. annulata which had a peak prevalence in June. The prevalence of tick-transmitted diseases was higher in small holders (31.3%) than large livestock farms (17.5%). Chi square analysis indicated a significant association among different breeds, seasons and farm size to selected tick-borne diseases. Whereas, the difference between different age groups and gender were not statistically significant. It was concluded that TBDs are prevalent in the Sargodha district, Pakistan. There is a need for further epidemiological investigations using advanced serological and molecular techniques.

Key words: Anaplasma, Babesia, Theileria, Sargodha, cattle.