Identification of Babesia and Theileria species in small ruminants in Central Anatolia (Turkey) via reverse line blotting

This study was conducted between January 2006 and September 2008 to identify Babesia and Theileria species in sheep and goats in Central Anatolia via reverse line blotting (RLB). In total, 421 sheep and 152 goats were randomly selected from herds located in Kayseri, Yozgat, and Sivas provinces (all in central Turkey). The amplified hypervariable V4 region of the 18S rRNA gene of ovine piroplasm species, including Theileria lestoquardi, T. ovis, Babesia ovis, B. motasi, and B. crassa, was hybridized against species-specific probes. Theileria ovis and B. ovis were observed in the study animals. Among the 573 small ruminants included in the study, 182 (43.2%) of 421 sheep and 18 (11.8%) of 152 goats, (in total 200 [34.9%]) were catch-all positive based on RLB. Among the sheep, T. ovis was observed in 170 (40.4%), B. ovis in 5 (1.2%), and B. ovis + T. ovis in 7 (1.7%). Theileria ovis, B. ovis, and B. ovis + T. ovis were observed in 15 (9.9%), in 1 (0.7%), and in 2 (1.3%) of the examined goats, respectively. As a result, the molecular prevalence of B. ovis was as follows: 2.9% in sheep (12/421), 2% in goats (3/152), and 2.6% in the total study population (15/573), versus 42% in sheep (177/421), 11.2% in goats (17/152), and 33.9% in the total population (194/573) for T. ovis.