Study of blood parasites in cattle of Guilan province from Iran

Babesia Starcovici 1893 and Theileria Theiler 1906 are the most important endemic blood parasites in domesticated animals. These parasites are transmitted by ticks and can causes clinical babesiosis and theileriosis both characterized by fever, hemolytic anemia which may lead to death. Therefore, the aim of our study is to determine the infection rates of Babesia spp. and Theileria spp. in Guilan province from Iran. A total number of 40 blood smears were collected from 40 different randomly selected cattle. The blood smears prepared and stained by Gimsa solution (10%) and light microscopic was used to examination of blood smears. The results showed that the number of 7 samples were infected by parasites. Among these, 3 samples (7.5%) were infected with Babesia spp. and 2 samples (5%) with Theileria spp. Along as 2 samples (5%) with bacterial parasites Anaplasma Theiler 1910. In the end, we recommend using both morphological and molecular methods together to get better results.