Detection of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in cows in Mosul City, Iraq

This study was targeted to evaluate the infection rate of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in cows in Mosul city-Iraq, using microscopic examination (ME) of the blood smears and nested polymerase chain reaction (N-PCR) technique to evaluate the efficiency of different diagnostic methods used in this study and to determine the parasitemia with the more common leucocytes infected with A. phagocytophilum . 50 blood samples were collected from cows in Mosul city. Blood smears were prepared for the primary detection of inclusion bodies (Morulae) inside leukocytes. The remaining blood was used to confirm the infection using the N-PCR technique. Results revealed that the infection rate of A. phagocytophilum in Mosul City was 58 and 72% using the ME method and N-PCR, respectively. Substantial compatibility was observed between the ME method and N-PCR technique based on the Kappa value 0.699 with a sensitivity of 80.55%, specificity of 100%, and accuracy of 86% of the ME method compared with the N-PCR technique. Infected cows with A. phagocytophilum were suffering from acute disease. Based on the ME of the blood smears, the total parasitemia of A. phagocytophilum inside the leukocytes ranged between 6-29%, with a mean of 17%. The highest significance of parasitemia in neutrophils was 40%, followed by lymphocytes was 25% compared with mononuclear cells, basophils, and eosinophils, which showed no significant change of parasitemia among them. In conclusion, A. phagocytophilum is widespread in cows in Mosul-Iraq; the ME method and N-PCR technique efficiently detect the A. phagocytophilum and neutrophils, which are mostly infected with bacteria.