title: A recently identified ovine Babesia in China: serology and sero-epidemiology.
abstract: Babesia sp. in Xinjiang, transmitted by Hyalomma, is a large Babesia that is infective for small ruminants, but it has almost no pathogenicity in healthy sheep. On the basis of the sequences of the 18S rRNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) genes, morphological characteristics, vector tick species and pathogenicity it was identified recently as a novel Babesia species. In the present study, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed using soluble merozoite antigens of Babesia sp. in Xinjiang (BXJMA) derived from in vitro culture. When the positive threshold was chosen as 24.65% of the specific mean antibody rate, the specificity and sensitivity were both 97.3%. There was no cross-reaction between BXJMA and positive sera from sheep infected with other Chinese ovine piroplasms or Anaplasma ovis in the ELISA and western blotting. Specific antibodies against Babesia sp. in Xinjiang could be detected 2 weeks post infection and a high level of antibodies persisted for more than 12 weeks in experimentally infected sheep. The ELISA was tested on 3857 sera collected from small ruminants in 50 prefectures of 22 provinces to evaluate the sero-epidemiology of Babesia sp. in Xinjiang infection, and the average positive rate was 31.66%. These data provide that the developed ELISA is a powerful tool for the sero-diagnosis of Babesia sp. in Xinjiang and confirm that it is a novel species.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Xujiaping 1, Lanzhou, Gansu 730046, PR China.
authors.forename: Guiquan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: Miling
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Aihong
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Qiaoyun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Jinming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jifei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Anyan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhijie
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Pengfei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Youquan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Jianxun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001403:Babesia / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*