The present investigation was done for one year to record the prevalence of haemoparasite species in crossbred and domestic cattle along the four Indo-Bhutan border districts of Assam. Microscopic examination of blood smears from 533 cattle resulted in overall prevalence of 67.35% and detection of three species, viz.
Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2020) 9(11): 1166-1176 International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume Number 11 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.911.136 Prevalence of Haemoparasites of Cattle in Four Districts of Assam, India and Bordering Bhutan Dipanjali Mushahary, Kanta Bhattacharjee*, Prabhat Chandra Sarmah and Dilip Kumar Deka Department of Parasitology, College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara, Guwahati, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Keywords Cattle, Haemoprotozoan, Theileria orientalis, Babesia bigemina, Anaplasma marginale, Bhutan, Blood smear Article Info Accepted: 10 October 2020 Available Online: 10 November 2020 The present investigation was done for one year to record the prevalence of haemoparasite species in crossbred and domestic cattle along the four Indo-Bhutan border districts of Assam Microscopic examination of blood smears from 533 cattle resulted in overall prevalence of 67.35% and detection of three species, viz Theileria orientalis (62.85%), Babesia bigemina (2.62%) and Anaplasma marginale (1.87%) Infection was found higher in crossbred (75.32%) than in indigenous cattle (66.00%), which was statistically highly significant (P3 years (80.42%) followed by young (68.11%) and lowest in calves (54.85%) Breed wise, higher prevalence was recorded in crossbred (75.32%) than in indigenous cattle (66.00%) Sex wise, females revealed higher prevalence of haemoparasites (74.02%) than the male counterpart (58.22%) Cattle and other animals are being regularly traded across the porous Indo-Bhutan border areas However, there is no record on the haemoparasitic diseases prevailing in the border districts The various factors related to prevalence of haemoparasite species of cattle in these areas are discussed Introduction Livestock is an important subsector of Indian Agriculture economy with cattle (199.10 million) and buffalo (105.30 million) accounting for 16.24% and 56.90% respectively of world bovine population (Livestock census 2007, Govt of India) Assam situated in India’s Northeast region is characterized by low milk producing cattle with average productivity of 1.34 L/ day against the all-India average of 2.77 L/day There still exists a huge gap in the production and consumption of milk and other livestock products Apart from the indigenous cattle, crossbreds are being produced by upgradation of indigenous animals with Jersey and Holstein Friesian exotic germ plasms Arthropod borne haemoprotozoan and haemorickettsial diseases like trypanosomosis, theileriosis, babesiosis, anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis cause huge economic loss to the livestock industry 1166 Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2020) 9(11): 1166-1176 throughout the world, responsible for high degree of morbidity and leading to mortality or long term debilitating effects causing anaemia, emaciation and reduction in milk production in both exotic and crossbred cattle (PD-ADMAS, 2005-06) Further, recovered animals become carriers, and are a potential source of infection to healthy susceptible population (Callow, 1984) In India, the cost of tick and tick borne disease (TTBD) control in animals has been estimated to be US $ 498.7 million per annum (Minjauw and McLeod, 2003) Theileriosis caused by Theileria annulata is an important disease and in India, the annual loss reported is approximately US$ 800 million Theileria orientalis, another parasite under the genus and previously considered to be non-pathogenic or mildly pathogenic, occur in all continents, are transmitted mainly by Amblyomma, Rhipicephalus and Haemaphysalis ticks and cause benign theileriosis (Uilenberg, 1981) There was no local knowledge on prevalence of haemoparasite other than Babesia and Anaplasma in cattle of Assam till the report of Kakati (2013) who recorded predominance of Boophilus microplus tick vector and incidence of Theileria orientalis besides B bigemina and A marginale in indigenous and crossbred cattle and record of mortality among crossbreds but no T annulata Bovine anaplasmosis, caused by A marginale, is an important haemorickettsial disease transmitted biologically by ticks and mechanically by biting flies and blood contaminated fomites causing significant economic losses in tropical and subtropical areas of world (Ristic, 1981) The Northeast India represents the transition between India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China and Bhutan and is the geographical gateway for much of flora and fauna (Rai, 2008) Animal diseases often transcend international boundaries (Trans Border Animal DiseasesTADs) through unabated movement of animals and can become the cause of national emergencies so far the animal and human health is concerned Bhutan, known as the “Thunder Dragon Country” is a tiny independent kingdom bordered in the east, west and south by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam and West Bengal, while in the north by China Among diseases of cattle, tick borne diseases as babesiosis, theileriosis and anaplasmosis are the major recognized problem in Bhutan (Phanchung et al., 2012; Tshering and Dorji, 2013) The border trade between the India and Bhutan takes place through several recognized passes or duars Assam is the major state of which six districts such as Kokrajhr, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Baksa, Udalguri and Sonitpur covering approximately 1000 square miles area share boundary with Bhutan Livestock for milk production and draught purpose are being regularly traded through the porous border, which are considered to be the risk factors for transmission of various diseases Therefore studies on these organisms in these porous borders are of great importance in the monitoring and surveillance of trans-boundary animal diseases Materials and Methods Study area The present study was carried out in four districts of Assam (26.24°-26.6897°N Latitude and 90.16°-91.9099°E Longitude) namely, Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri along the Indo-Bhutan border areas for one year w.e.f April 2016 to March 2017 The environmental temperature ranged from 8° to15°C during winter and 35° to 38° C during the summer 1167 Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2020) 9(11): 1166-1176 Study design Statistical analysis A total of 533 cattle (456 indigenous and 77 crossbred) were considered for the prevalence of haemoprotozoan and haemorickettsial diseases in the study area Collection of animal level data such as age, sex, breed, and husbandry practices were collected by interviewing the owners/farmers According to age, animals were categorized into calves (3 years) Indigenous (Bos indicus) and crossbred (Holstein Friesian, Jersey, Bos taurus X Bos indicus) cattle of either sex were selected randomly on the basis of their availability The crossbred animals were stallfed, kept on concrete/ semi concrete floors whereas the indigenous animals were of open grazed type and raised on muddy floor of the sheds SAS Enterprise Guide 4.3 software program was employed for the data analysis using Chisquare (χ2) test The results were expressed in percentage with p-value and the significance was determined with p value of