*1Bessas, A., 2Zaidi, S., 3Noui, A., 4Hezil, Dj., 2Zenia, S., and 5Bitam, I.
1Department of Biology, Benyoucef Benkhedda University of Algiers 1, 16000, Algiers, Algeria
2Higher National Veterinary School, 16000, Algiers, Algeria
3Institute of Veterinary Sciences, Ibn Khaldoun University, 14000, Tiaret, Algeria
4Department of Biology, M’Hamed Bougara University, 35000, Boumerdes, Algeria
5Higher School of Food Science and Agri-Food Industry (ESSAIA), 16000, Algiers, Algeria *Correspondence to: bessas.amina@gmail.com
Abstract:
Background: In Algeria, little focus was placed on camels as hosts of tick-borne bacterial diseases. Recent studies showed a high prevalence of tick infestation in dromedaries. Transmission of various pathogenic microorganisms to camels by ticks imposes considerable economic losses to livestock and greatly impact on human and animal health. The aim of our study was to investigate the occurrence of vector-borne zoonotic bacteria in camels from Algeria.
Methodology: Blood samples were collected from 80 randomly selected camels in Laghouat province, southern Algeria. The samples were screened for Anaplasma spp, Bartonella spp, Rickettsia spp and Coxiella burnetii by qPCR. All positive samples were confirmed by standard PCR followed by sequencing. Data on age, sex, tick infestation and location of the camels were analyzed using the SPSS version 17.0 and association of these with vector-borne bacterial pathogens was determined using Chi-square (χ2) test. P value lower than 0.05 was considered as indicative of significance. Continue reading “Molecular detection of vector-borne bacterial pathogens in dromedary camels from Algeria”