فائزه حیدربیگی

Cryptosporidium is a protozoan that causes an important opportunistic infection in humans and ruminants. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of cryptosporidiosis infection based on some epidemiological factors in stockmen and sheep in Bukan county. In this study, conducted from July to December 2018, 218 fecal samples were collected from sheep and 200 fecal samples from stockmen in Bukan county, Iran. After preparation, the samples were stained using the Modified Ziehl-Neelsen stain method and examined microscopically at 100X and 40X magnification. In total, six stockmen (3%) and 25 sheep (11.46%) were diagnosed as infected with Cryptosporidium. In the present study, the highest prevalence was observed with a significant statistical difference in the age group of 1-7 years (20.83%), among people with clinical symptoms (26.32%), and among those who consumed home-grown vegetables cultivated with animal manure (18.52%) (p<0.05). No significant statistical difference was observed in other studied parameters (p>0.05). Additionally, there is a statistically significant relationship between the level of infection in sheep with Cryptosporidium and their age group (p<0.05). Further investigations revealed a statistically significant relationship between the sex of sheep and the infection in Bukan county (p<0.05).

Sarcocystis is an obligate intracellular parasitic protozoan that can cause digestive disorders in patients. It also causes huge financial losses in the livestock industry. Studying the prevalence of this parasite in livestock can lead to increased awareness and the possibility of timely prevention in preventing livestock losses. The present study was conducted to study the changes in the biochemical parameters of adenosine deaminase, visfatin, and sphingosine-1-phosphate due to sarcocyst infection in sheep and goats.

During a period of 6 months (from January 2018 to June 2019), blood was drawn from 160 samples (80 sheep carcasses and 80 goat carcasses) that were examined macroscopically and microscopically. The sample size was determined by assuming the average possible prevalence of contamination to be around 90% and a confidence interval of 95%. The carcasses were observed and examined for the presence of rice grain cysts, and after separating the plasma samples, the parameters of adenosine deaminase, visfatin, and sphingosine-1-phosphate were evaluated.

Based on the results of this study, all the mentioned parameters in the study patient's goats and sheep had a statistically significant increase compared to the control group (P<0.05).Discussion and

In general, sarcocysts can cause changes in the plasma levels of adenosine deaminase, visfatin, and sphingosine-1-phosphate. Therefore, it can be used in the biochemical diagnosis (biomarker) of sarcocyst in ruminants with wider studies of the aforementioned parameters along with other plasma parameters.

The family of Ixodidae is one of the greatest tick families of domestic animals that includes 13 genera and 650 species in five subfamilies. The goal of this research is the assessment of the cattle and domestic buffalos’ contaminations development to differentiate the tick family from the quantitative aspect and also the determination of the found tick species diversity in Miandoab. In this study, conducted from the early spring 2016 to the late winter in 2017, 406 ticks were collected and identified from the total cattle and buffaloes studied; 187 ticks were collected and identified. From all cattle studied, Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum, with 179 numbers (44.09%), was identified as the most infesting agent, and Boophilus annulatus, with three numbers (0.74%), was identified as the least infecting agent. From the total buffaloes under studied, Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum, with 101 numbers (54.01%), was identified as the highest cause of infection, and Rhipicephalus sanguineus, with 21 numbers, (11.23%) was identified as the least infecting agent (P<0.05). In the current study, in terms of seasonal prevalence of hard tick infection, the highest level of infection was observed in spring and the lowest levels of infection were observed in winter (P<0.05). Maximum rates of hard ticks were observed in the groin and minimums were observed on the surface of the testicles (P<0.05).