Vet Med - Czech, 2014, 59(9):409-414 | DOI: 10.17221/7680-VETMED

Epidemiology of Theileria equi in Persian Arab horses from IranOriginal Paper

S. Bahrami, A.R. Ghadrdan, M. Pourmahdi Borujeni, M. Vafayi Salarpur
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

The Khuzestan province in south-western Iran is the centre of Persian Arab horse breeding and training. The present study was aimed at determining the prevalence of Theileria equi in the equids of this province. A total of 165 blood samples from healthy Persian Arab horses from twenty four stables were examined for the presence of T. equi infection using molecular methods. For detection of T. equi, primers targeting the 18SrRNA gene were selected. The PCR method gave 47 (28.5%) positive results. Age (P = 0.68), sex (P = 0.88), contact with cattle (P = 0.26) and type of activity (P = 0.06) were not determined as risk factors for T. equi infection in this study. However, there was a significant geographical variation in the prevalence of T. equi infection ranging from 8.3% (2/24) in Shushtar to 55.6% (10/18) in Ramhormoz (CI, 2.46-76.82) (P = 0.003). In conclusion, equine theileriosis has the potential of posing a significant problem for Iran's Persian Arab horse industry and should remain a major concern to the horse community and regulatory agencies.

Keywords: Theileria equi; horse; polymerase chain reaction; Iran

Published: September 30, 2014  Show citation

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Bahrami S, Ghadrdan AR, Pourmahdi Borujeni M, Vafayi Salarpur M. Epidemiology of Theileria equi in Persian Arab horses from Iran. Vet Med-Czech. 2014;59(9):409-414. doi: 10.17221/7680-VETMED.
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