Tropical theileriosis or Mediterranean theileriosis is a
theileriosis of
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...
from the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
and
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
area, from
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
to Western parts of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. It is a
tick-borne disease
Tick-borne diseases, which afflict humans and other animals, are caused by infectious agents transmitted by tick bites. They are caused by infection with a variety of pathogens, including rickettsia and other types of bacteria, viruses, and proto ...
, caused by ''
Theileria
''Theileria'' is a genus of parasites that belongs to the phylum Apicomplexa, and is closely related to ''Plasmodium''. Two ''Theileria'' species, ''T. annulata'' and ''T. parva'', are important cattle parasites. ''T. annulata'' causes tropical ...
annulata''. The
vector
Vector most often refers to:
*Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction
*Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism
Vector may also refer to:
Mathematic ...
s are
tick
Ticks (order Ixodida) are parasitic arachnids that are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, species, and "fullness". Ticks are external parasites, living by ...
s of the genera ''
Hyalomma
''Hyalomma'' is a genus of hard-bodied ticks common in Asia, Europe, and North Africa. They are also found in Southern Africa. The name is derived from Greek: hyalos (ὕαλος) crystal, glass; and omma (oμμα) eye.
The genus is believed to ...
'' and ''
Rhipicephalus
''Rhipicephalus'' is a genus of ticks in the family Ixodidae, the hard ticks, consisting of about 74 or 75 species. Most are native to tropical Africa.Olwoch, J. M., et al. (2007)Climate change and the genus ''Rhipicephalus'' (Acari: Ixodidae) in ...
''.
The most prominent symptoms are
fever
Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a body temperature, temperature above the human body temperature, normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, set point. There is not a single ...
and
lymph node enlargement
Lymphadenopathy or adenopathy is a disease of the lymph nodes, in which they are abnormal in size or consistency. Lymphadenopathy of an inflammatory type (the most common type) is lymphadenitis, producing swollen or enlarged lymph nodes. In cli ...
. But there is a wide range of clinical manifestations, especially in
enzootic
Enzootic is the non-human equivalent of endemic and means, in a broad sense, "belonging to" or "native to", "characteristic of", or "prevalent in" a particular geography, race, field, area, or environment; native to an area or scope.
It also has t ...
areas. Among them, the
Doukkala
Doukkala () is a tribal confederation of mostly Arab origin, and is also a natural region of Morocco made of fertile plains and forests. Nowadays it is part of the Casablanca-Settat administrative region.
The region is a plain stretching fr ...
area of
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
, where the epidemiology and symptomatology of the disease were minutely studied.
[ ]AGRIS
AGRIS (International System for Agricultural Science and Technology) is a global public domain database with more than 12 million structured bibliographical records on agricultural science and technology. It became operational in 1975 and the data ...
i
FR2002001447
The disease was once considered as "benign" in the literature, in comparison to
East Coast fever
East Coast fever, also known as theileriosis, is a disease of cattle which occurs in Africa and is caused by the protozoan parasite ''Theileria parva''. The primary vector which spreads ''T. parva'' between cattle is a tick, ''Rhipicephalus appe ...
. With the introduction of European breeds into the region, however, it could become of major economic incidence.
[With mortalities up to 50 to 80 percent in the 1980s]
L. Mahin
. An efficient treatment with parvaquone, then
buparvaquone
Buparvaquone is a naphthoquinone antiprotozoal drug related to atovaquone. It is a promising compound for the therapy and prophylaxis of all forms of theileriosis (disambiguation), theileriosis. Buparvaquone has been shown to have anti-leishmanial ...
became available in many countries from the mid-1990s. Animals native to endemic areas appear more tolerant to the disease,
buffalos especially, appear less susceptible.
[Theileriosis - Cattle](_blank)
reviewed and published by WikiVet
WikiVet is a wiki of veterinary content based on the MediaWiki platform. The website is a collaborative initiative between various veterinary schools, and its content covers the entire veterinary curriculum. WikiVet is part of the WikiVet Educatio ...
, accessed 11 October 2011.
Clinical signs
![Five 41](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Five_41.jpg)
Body temperature is regularly higher than in any other cattle disease. Fever from is common in acute stages. Later on (day 5 to day 10 from the clinical onset), temperature will lower to a normal range (), but the disease will continue to progress, despite a possible apparent clinical improvement (appetite comes back). Afterwards, from D10 to D15, there is a downfall stage, with
hypothermia
Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe h ...
(),
anemia
Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin. When anemia comes on slowly, th ...
,
jaundice
Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving abnormal heme meta ...
, and
heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
. Such animals rarely recover, even with intensive treatment.
Lymph nodes are commonly enlarged and there may be episodes of blood from the nose, difficulty breathing and weight loss.
Other signs, but not present in all cases are :
* Blood-tinged
diarrhea
Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin wi ...
, or with obvious blood clots.
*
Bruxism
Bruxism is excessive teeth grinding or jaw clenching. It is an oral parafunctional activity; i.e., it is unrelated to normal function such as eating or talking. Bruxism is a common behavior; reports of prevalence range from 8% to 31% in the gene ...
(grinding of teeth) can be seen
* Circular raised patches of hair all over the body
* Haemorrhages in the ocular and vaginal mucous membranes
* A degree of anaemia
Diagnosis
![Crexhioûles coxhrece sins maladeye](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Crexhio%C3%BBles_coxhrece_sins_maladeye.jpg)
Lymph node enlargement and even hyperthermia can occur asymptomatically in enzootic area, during the disease season.
Clinical signs, including lymph node enlargement, anaemia, hyperthermia and history of tick infestation can lead to a suspicion of theileriosis
Definitive diagnosis relies on the observation of the pirolplasm stages of the organism in the erythrocytes in
blood smear
A blood smear, peripheral blood smear or blood film is a thin layer of blood smeared on a glass microscope slide and then stained in such a way as to allow the various blood cells to be examined microscopically. Blood smears are examined in the ...
s stained with
Romanowsky stain
Romanowsky staining, also known as Romanowsky–Giemsa staining, is a prototypical staining technique that was the forerunner of several distinct but similar stains widely used in hematology (the study of blood) and cytopathology (the study of di ...
s. Lymph node aspirates can also be examined for the presence of 'Kock's Blue Bodies' which are schizont stages in lymphocytes. Necropsy reveals 'punched out ulcers' in the abomasum and greyish raised 'infarcts' on kidneys. Numerous serological tests like
ELISA
The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (, ) is a commonly used analytical biochemistry assay, first described by Eva Engvall and Peter Perlmann in 1971. The assay uses a solid-phase type of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to detect the presence ...
, and indirect
immunofluorescence
Immunofluorescence is a technique used for light microscopy with a fluorescence microscope and is used primarily on microbiological samples. This technique uses the specificity of antibodies to their antigen to target fluorescent dyes to specif ...
test and
PCR can also help diagnosis.
Treatment and control
Buparvaquone
Buparvaquone is a naphthoquinone antiprotozoal drug related to atovaquone. It is a promising compound for the therapy and prophylaxis of all forms of theileriosis (disambiguation), theileriosis. Buparvaquone has been shown to have anti-leishmanial ...
,
halofuginone
Halofuginone, sold under the brand name Halocur, is a coccidiostat used in veterinary medicine. It is a synthetic halogenated derivative of febrifugine, a natural quinazolinone alkaloid which can be found in the Chinese herb ''Dichroa febrifuga'' ...
and
tetracycline
Tetracycline, sold under various brand names, is an oral antibiotic in the tetracyclines family of medications, used to treat a number of infections, including Acne vulgaris, acne, cholera, brucellosis, plague (disease), plague, malaria, and sy ...
and
butalex and
oxytetracycline
Oxytetracycline is a broad-spectrum tetracycline antibiotic, the second of the group to be discovered.
Oxytetracycline works by interfering with the ability of bacteria to produce essential proteins. Without these proteins, the bacteria cannot g ...
have all shown to be effective. Tick control should be considered, but resistance to parasiticide products may be increasing.
There are various options for controlling
ticks of domestic animals
Ticks of domestic animals directly cause poor health and loss of production to their hosts. Ticks also transmit numerous kinds of viruses, bacteria, and protozoa between domestic animals. These microbes cause diseases which can be severely debilita ...
, including: topical application of parasiticidal chemicals in dip baths or spray races or pour-on formulations, spraying parasiticides on walls of cattle pens, and rendering the walls of cattle pens smooth with mortar to stop ticks molting there. Selection of cattle for good ability to acquire immune resistance to ticks is potentially effective.
Endemic stability is a state where animals are affected at a low levels or not as susceptible to the disease, and this may be encouraged in endemic areas.
Vaccination is available and should be performed in breeds that are susceptible to infection.
Live attenuated vaccine are being used in many countries like India, Iran, Turkey etc. Which is a basically a Lymphocyte infected with ''T. annulata'' schizont stage and passaged for attenuation.
Vectors
''
Hyalomma marginatum marginatum'' is by far the most common
vector
Vector most often refers to:
*Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction
*Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism
Vector may also refer to:
Mathematic ...
in the
Extremadura
Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...
region of Spain.
The Habela team investigated several locations across the 1990s and collected their analysis in Habela et al 1999.
They found ''Hmm'' very prevalently but also commonly found ''
Rhipicephalus bursa
''Rhipicephalus'' is a genus of ticks in the family Ixodidae, the hard ticks, consisting of about 74 or 75 species. Most are native to tropical Africa.Olwoch, J. M., et al. (2007)Climate change and the genus ''Rhipicephalus'' (Acari: Ixodidae) in ...
'', and ''Rb'' is most common in cattle and cattle suffer the worst.
''
H. lusitanicum'' and ''
R. sanguineus'' are rare.
Range
This is the most impactful
tick-borne disease
Tick-borne diseases, which afflict humans and other animals, are caused by infectious agents transmitted by tick bites. They are caused by infection with a variety of pathogens, including rickettsia and other types of bacteria, viruses, and proto ...
in the
Extremadura
Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...
Region of Spain.
The Habela team found Mediterranean theileriosis consistently in several studies throughout the 1990s, collected in their Habela et al 1999.
References
*
External links
The disease in the Merck Veterinary Manual*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q9358364
Bovine diseases