Molecular Epidemiology and Risk Factors Assessment of Anaplasma spp. on Dairy Cattle in Southwest of Iran

The present study was carried out todetermine Anaplasma species and potential risk factors associated withmolecular prevalence of Anaplasma spp. among dairy cattle in southwest of Iran.A total of 88 samples out of 200 generated an expected amplicon of 866 bp fromAnaplasma marginale msp4 gene. Six samples that were identified as A. marginalegave also positive results for A. phagocytophilum 16S rRNA gene with specificnested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR). The multivariate analysis of riskfactors revealed that the cattle of mountain regions were significantly(p=0.0001) at higher risk as compared to the plain regions. Cattle <1 yearage and the latitude 32-33°C were significantly at lower risk (p<0.01). Thecattle with low milk yield were significantly (p=0.002) at lower risk. Lowhygienic farms were significantly (p=0.011) at higher risk as compared to goodand normal hygienic farms. Distance from other farms (<1Km) was anotherimportant risk factor which showed significant association with the occurrenceof Anaplasma infection (p=0.021). The results of this study can be used instrategic planning for prevention and control of bovine anaplasmosis in dairycattle in the southwest of Iran.