Uses of Modified Buffy Coat Method As a Tool for Diagnosis of Bovine Hemoparasites

Al-Badrani, Basima Abdulfatah; Hammed, Sara Mohammed

doi:10.21608/ejvs.2021.96527.1298

Uses of Modified Buffy Coat Method As a Tool for Diagnosis of Bovine Hemoparasites

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Veterinary internal and preventive Medicine College of Veterinary Medicine University of Mosul , Iraq

² Department of Internal and Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Mosul, Mosul-Iraq.

10.21608/ejvs.2021.96527.1298

Abstract

Modified buffy coat method (BCM) using microhematocrit tubes and acridine orange (AO) staining permitsquick(~10 min/sample) and accurate diagnosis of commonbovine hemoparasites compared to the light microscopy(LM) of Giemsa stained smears.Babesia, Theileria,Anaplasma, Ehrlichia and Trypanosoma parasites were detected. It was easy to see Babesia merozoites, trypomastigotes and epimastigotes of Trypanosoma parasite. Similarly, fluorescent microscopy (FLM), offers a method for detecting low parasitemiathat are undetectable by light microscopy. Under LM, the agreement between the twodiagnostic techniquesusing Cohen’s Kappa index was perfect for Trypanosoma (1.000), substantial for Anaplasma(0.615), moderate for Theileria, and Ehrlichia (0.459, 0.433 respectively). BCM was able to detect all positive cases (100%) of Babesia infections using LM and FLM. Modified buffy coat method usingdark field microscopy (DFM) is recommended as a fast and dependable tool to detect Babesiaand Trypanosomaparasites. BCMusing AO stain can be set up directlywitha low cost using anordinary LM.BCM is a valuable tool for diagnosinghemoparasitesmixed infection. Buffy coatmethodcan be used as an alternative technique for the dry stained smear for quickly screening of bovine blood samples.

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