Prevalence of Trypanosoma evansi in horses in Israel evaluated by serology and reverse dot blot.
Abstract: Trypanosoma evansi is the cause of surra in horses, camels and other domestic animals. Following the first outbreak of surra in horses and camels in Israel in 2006, a survey of the prevalence of the parasite in the Israeli horse population was conducted using serology, PCR followed by the reverse dot blot (RDB) technique and blood smear microscopy. In total, 614 horses from 7 regions were sampled. The CATT/T. evansi kit was used for serology for all the horses. Horses from the Arava and Dead Sea region, where the first outbreak occurred, were sampled again one year later and both samples were subjected to serology and the RDB technique. The country wide seroprevalence was 4.6% (28/614). The seroprevalence in the Arava and Dead Sea region was 6.5% (9/139) in the first sampling compared with 4.1% (5/122) in the second, whereas the prevalence of RDB-positivity was 18.7% (26/139) in the first sampling and only 0.8% (1/122) in the second. All horses were asymptomatic except for one horse from the Arava and Dead Sea region that demonstrated clinical signs of surra combined with positive serology and RDB. The results of this study indicated that surra is prevalent in most regions of the country and thus should be considered an important differential diagnosis in horses and other domestic animals in Israel with chronic weight loss, edema or neurological signs.
Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: 2012-05-11 PubMed ID: 22578964DOI: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2012.04.009Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
- Research Support
- N.I.H.
- Extramural
- Research Support
- Non-U.S. Gov't
Summary
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This research article explores the prevalence of Trypanosoma evansi, the parasite causing surra, in the horse population in Israel. The study used serology, PCR, reverse dot blot technique, and blood smear microscopy to examine samples from 614 horses in 7 regions. The results revealed that surra is prevalent in most regions and should be considered an important differential diagnosis for certain clinical signs in horses and other domestic animals in Israel.
Study Background
- The study was conducted following the first outbreak of surra (a disease caused by a parasite called Trypanosoma evansi) in horses and camels in Israel in 2006.
- The aim of the research was to understand better the prevalence of the parasite in the Israeli horse population.
Methodology
- The researchers tested 614 horses from 7 different regions across the country.
- The tests used included serology, PCR followed by the reverse dot blot (RDB) technique, and blood smear microscopy.
- The CATT/T. evansi kit was used for all serology testing.
- Another round of sampling and testing was conducted a year later on horses from the Arava and Dead Sea regions, where the initial outbreak occurred.
Findings
- The overall prevalence of the parasite (based on seroprevalence) in the surveyed horse population was found to be 4.6%.
- The Arava and Dead Sea region had a slightly higher than the average seroprevalence of 6.5% in the first sampling, which dropped to 4.1% in the second sampling.
- The prevalence rate of RDB-positivity was remarkably high (18.7%) in the first sampling in the Arava and Dead Sea region, but it decreased drastically in the second sampling (0.8%).
- All tested horses were asymptomatic, with only one horse from the Arava and Dead Sea region showing clinical signs of surra, tested positive in serology and RDB.
Conclusions
- The findings of the study suggest that surra is prevalent in most regions across Israel.
- Therefore, the disease should be considered a significant differential diagnosis in horses and other domestic animals in Israel exhibiting symptoms such as chronic weight loss, edema, or neurological signs.
Cite This Article
APA
Berlin D, Nasereddin A, Azmi K, Ereqat S, Abdeen Z, Eyal O, Baneth G.
(2012).
Prevalence of Trypanosoma evansi in horses in Israel evaluated by serology and reverse dot blot.
Res Vet Sci, 93(3), 1225-1230.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rvsc.2012.04.009 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, P.O. Box 12, Rehovot 76100, Israel. berlin@agri.huji.ac.il
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Disease Outbreaks / veterinary
- Horse Diseases / blood
- Horse Diseases / epidemiology
- Horses
- Immunoblotting / veterinary
- Israel / epidemiology
- Prevalence
- Serologic Tests / veterinary
- Trypanosoma / isolation & purification
- Trypanosomiasis / blood
- Trypanosomiasis / epidemiology
- Trypanosomiasis / veterinary
Grant Funding
- TA-MOU-03-M23-015 / PHS HHS
Citations
This article has been cited 6 times.- Chandu AGS, Sengupta PP, Jacob SS, Borthakur SK, Patra G, Roy P. Mining the pervasiveness of surra in different animal species of Northeastern states of India: Assam, Mizoram and Tripura. J Parasit Dis 2021 Jun;45(2):330-335.
- More S, Bøtner A, Butterworth A, Calistri P, Depner K, Edwards S, Garin-Bastuji B, Good M, Gortázar Schmidt C, Michel V, Miranda MA, Nielsen SS, Raj M, Sihvonen L, Spoolder H, Stegeman JA, Thulke HH, Velarde A, Willeberg P, Winckler C, Baldinelli F, Broglia A, Candiani D, Beltrán Beck B, Kohnle L, Morgado J, Bicout D. Assessment of listing and categorisation of animal diseases within the framework of the Animal Health Law (Regulation (EU) No 2016/429): Trypanosoma evansi infections (including Surra). EFSA J 2017 Jul;15(7):e04892.
- Ereqat S, Nasereddin A, Al-Jawabreh A, Al-Jawabreh H, Al-Laham N, Abdeen Z. Prevalence of Trypanosoma evansi in livestock in Palestine. Parasit Vectors 2020 Jan 13;13(1):21.
- Aregawi WG, Agga GE, Abdi RD, Büscher P. Systematic review and meta-analysis on the global distribution, host range, and prevalence of Trypanosoma evansi. Parasit Vectors 2019 Jan 31;12(1):67.
- Alanazi AD, Puschendorf R, Salim B, Alyousif MS, Alanazi IO, Al-Shehri HR. Molecular detection of equine trypanosomiasis in the Riyadh Province of Saudi Arabia. J Vet Diagn Invest 2018 Nov;30(6):942-945.
- Raftery AG, Gummery L, Garcia K, Mohite D, Capewell P, Sutton DGM. Equine trypanosomiasis, a systematic review and meta-analyses: Prevalence, morbidity and mortality. Equine Vet J 2026 Mar;58(2):291-319.
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