Prevalence of babesiosis in Sanga cattle in the Ohangwena region of Namibia

Abstract

Bovine babesiosis is one of the common, economically important tick-borne infectious diseases of cattle. Clinical cases suspected to be babesiosis are frequently observed in the study area. Yet to date, no studies have been done in the farming areas of the north central of Namibia to establish the prevalence of the disease. The objectives of the present study were to determine the sero-prevalence of different Babesia species in Sanga cattle; determine the most prevalent Babesia species and the spatial distribution for two Babesia species in the study area. A total of 392 cattle were randomly sampled and bled to collect blood at various crush pens in all constituencies of the region. This was done during the annual vaccination campaign against lung sickness. The IFA (Indirect Fluorescent Antibody) a method known to have a sensitivity of 95% and specificity of 99%, was used to analyse the samples for Babesia antibodies. The most prevalent species was Babesia bigemina with an estimated prevalence of 36.5%, followed by Babesia bovis at 16.6%. Mixed infections were estimated to be 13.2%. The disease was found to be prevalent throughout the region with no significance association between infection as the dependent variable and independent variables like sex, age and place. The parasite was widely but not uniformly distributed in the study area. There is a need for more farmer education and awareness. The region proved to be endemically unstable for babesiosis, a vaccination protocol to establish good herd immunity is necessary to improve production. Similar studies in different parts of Namibia be performed and that efforts to prepare a local vaccine. Agricultural regulations should also include the removal of old animals to help improve productivity and farmers output. Further research should investigate and map out the prevalence of Babesia parasites and other heamoparasites in each region of Namibia. This information can also contribute towards the development of future interventions and management strategies in animal health