Effects of white-tailed deer habitat use preferences on southern cattle fever tick eradication: simulating impact on “pasture vacation” strategies

Abstract Background Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus and Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (southern cattle fever tick; SCFT), collectively known as cattle-fever ticks (CFTs), are vectors of protozoal parasites (Babesia bigemina and Babesia bovis) that cause bovine babesiosis (also known as cattle fever). One traditional strategy for CFT eradication involves the implementation of a “pasture vacation,” which involves removing cattle (Bos taurus) from an infested pasture for an extended period of time. However, vacated pastures are often inhabited by wildlife hosts, such as white-tailed deer (WTD; Odocoileus virginianus), which can serve as alternate hosts for questing CFTs. We hypothesized that the distribution of host-seeking larvae among habitat types post-pasture vacation would reflect habitat use patterns of WTD, and in turn, affect the subsequent rate of pasture infestation by CFT. Methods We adapted a spatially explicit, individual-based model to simulate interactions among SCFT, cattle, and WTD as a tool to investigate the potential effects of WTD habitat use preferences on the efficacy of a pasture vacation. We parameterized the model to represent conditions typical of rangelands in south Texas, USA, simulated a 1-year pasture vacation under different assumptions regarding WTD habitat use preferences, and summarized effects on efficacy through (1) time post-vacation to reach 100% of pre-vacation densities of host-seeking larvae, and (2) the ecological conditions that resulted in the lowest host-seeking larval densities following pasture vacation. Results Larval densities at the landscape scale varied seasonally in a similar manner over the entire simulation period, regardless of WTD habitat use preferences. Following the removal of cattle, larval densities declined sharply to < 100 larvae/ha. Following the return of cattle, larval densities increased to > 60% of pre-vacation densities ≈ 21 weeks post-vacation, and reached pre-vacation levels in less than a year. Trends in larval densities in different habitat types paralleled those at the landscape scale over the entire simulation period, but differed quantitatively from one another during the pasture vacation. Relative larval densities (highest to lowest) shifted from (1) wood/shrub, (2) grass, (3) mixed-brush during the pre-vacation period to (1) mixed-brush, (2) wood/shrub, (3) grass or (1) wood/shrub, (2) mixed-brush, (3) grass during the post-vacation period, depending on WTD habitat use preferences. Conclusions By monitoring WTD-driven shifts in distributions of SCFT host-seeking larvae among habitat types during simulated pasture vacation experiments, we were able to identify potential SCFT refugia from which recrudescence of infestations could originate. Such information could inform timely applications of acaricides to specific refugia habitats immediately prior to the termination of pasture vacations.

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Applying Machine Learning to Predict the Exportome of Bovine and Canine Babesia Species That Cause Babesiosis

Pathogens ◽

10.3390/pathogens10060660 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 660

Author(s):

Stephen J. Goodswen ◽

Paul J. Kennedy ◽

John T. Ellis

Keyword(s):

Machine Learning ◽

Severe Disease ◽

Economic Loss ◽

Babesia Bovis ◽

Training Data ◽

Babesia Bigemina ◽

Bovine Babesiosis ◽

Canine Babesiosis ◽

Clinically Significant ◽

Significant Disease

Babesia infection of red blood cells can cause a severe disease called babesiosis in susceptible hosts. Bovine babesiosis causes global economic loss to the beef and dairy cattle industries, and canine babesiosis is considered a clinically significant disease. Potential therapeutic targets against bovine and canine babesiosis include members of the exportome, i.e., those proteins exported from the parasite into the host red blood cell. We developed three machine learning-derived methods (two novel and one adapted) to predict for every known Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina, and Babesia canis protein the probability of being an exportome member. Two well-studied apicomplexan-related species, Plasmodium falciparum and Toxoplasma gondii, with extensive experimental evidence on their exportome or excreted/secreted proteins were used as important benchmarks for the three methods. Based on 10-fold cross validation and multiple train–validation–test splits of training data, we expect that over 90% of the predicted probabilities accurately provide a secretory or non-secretory indicator. Only laboratory testing can verify that predicted high exportome membership probabilities are creditable exportome indicators. However, the presented methods at least provide those proteins most worthy of laboratory validation and will ultimately save time and money.

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Diagnostic Tools for the Identification of Babesia sp. in Persistently Infected Cattle

Pathogens ◽

10.3390/pathogens8030143 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 143 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

J. Antonio Alvarez ◽

Carmen Rojas ◽

Julio V. Figueroa

Keyword(s):

Clinical Signs ◽

International Health ◽

Babesia Bovis ◽

Diagnostic Tools ◽

Infected Cattle ◽

Babesia Bigemina ◽

Bovine Babesiosis ◽

Culture Methods ◽

Persistently Infected

Bovine babesiosis is a tick-borne disease of cattle caused by the protozoan parasites of the genus Babesia. Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina and Babesia divergens are considered by International health authorities (OIE) as the principal species of Babesia that cause bovine babesiosis. Animals that recover from a babesial primo infection may remain as persistent carriers with no clinical signs of disease and can be the source of infection for ticks that are able to acquire Babesia parasites from infected cattle and to transmit Babesia parasites to susceptible cattle. Several procedures that have been developed for parasite detection and diagnosis of this infectious carrier state constitute the basis for this review: A brief description of the direct microscopic detection of Babesia-infected erytrocytes; PCR-based diagnostic assays, which are very sensitive particularly in detecting Babesia in carrier cattle; in-vitro culture methods, used to demonstrate presence of carrier infections of Babesia sp.; animal inoculation, particularly for B. divergens isolation are discussed. Alternatively, persistently infected animals can be tested for specific antibabesial antibodies by using indirect serological assays. Serological procedures are not necessarily consistent in identifying persistently infected animals and have the disadvantage of presenting with cross reactions between antibodies to Babesia sp.

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Assessing the Immunochromatographic Test Strip for Serological Detection of Bovine Babesiosis in Uganda

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms8081110 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (8) ◽

pp. 1110 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Dickson Stuart Tayebwa ◽

Amany Magdy Beshbishy ◽

Gaber El-Saber Batiha ◽

Mariam Komugisha ◽

Byaruhanga Joseph ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Test Strip ◽

Spherical Body ◽

Babesia Bovis ◽

Diagnostic Tools ◽

Immunochromatographic Test ◽

Babesia Bigemina ◽

Bovine Babesiosis ◽

Body Protein ◽

Eastern Uganda ◽

Good Agreement

In Uganda, bovine babesiosis continues to cause losses to the livestock industry because of shortages of cheap, quick, and reliable diagnostic tools to guide prescription measures. In this study, the presence of antibodies to Babesia bigemina and Babesia bovis in 401 bovine blood samples obtained from eastern and central areas of Uganda were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and immunochromatographic test strips (ICTs). The ELISA and ICT test used targeted the B. bigemina C-terminal rhoptry-associated protein (RAP-1/CT17) and B. bovis spherical body protein-4 (SPB-4). Using ELISA, single-ICT and dual-ICT, positive samples for B. bovis were detected in 25 (6.2%), 17 (4.3%), and 14 (3.7%) samples respectively, and positive samples for B. bigemina were detected in 34 (8.4%), 27 (6.7%), and 25 (6.2%), respectively. Additionally, a total of 13 animals (3.2%) had a mixed infection. The correlation between ELISA and single-ICT strips results revealed slight agreement with kappa values ranging from 0.088 to 0.191 between both methods, while the comparison between dual-ICT and single-ICT results showed very good agreement with kappa values >0.80. This study documented the seroprevalence of bovine babesiosis in central and eastern Uganda, and showed that ICT could, after further optimization, be a useful rapid diagnostic test for the diagnosis of bovine babesiosis in field settings.

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First Report on Molecular Identification of Babesia bigemina in a Nervous Signs Evident Naturally Infected Holstein-Friesian Cattle from Central India

Indian Journal of Animal Research ◽

10.18805/ijar.b-4306 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

V. Agrawal ◽

G. Das ◽

A. Jaiswal ◽

A.K. Jayraw ◽

G.P. Jatav ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Blood Sample ◽

Genomic Dna ◽

Blood Smear ◽

Clinical Signs ◽

Central India ◽

Babesia Bovis ◽

Thin Blood Smear ◽

Babesia Bigemina ◽

Bovine Babesiosis ◽

Holstein Friesian

Background: Bovine babesiosis caused by an intraerythrocytic apicomplexan protozoon responsible for the most prevalent and costly tick borne diseases (TBD’s) of cattle throughout the globe. Cerebral babesiosis of bovine is fatal and mainly caused by Babesia bovis. To the knowledge of author, there is no confirm molecular report of Babeisa bigemina caused cerebral babesiosis in cattle. Therefore, authors want to report Babesia bigemina caused cerebral babesiosis on record. Methods: In the year 2015, a Holstein-Friesian cow aged 3 years and weighing approximately 300 kg, was attended at Jabalpur, (M.P.) with the clinical signs of high rise in temperature (104°F), recumbency, severe dysponea, peculiar sound during open mouth breathing, pale color of eye conjunctiva and mucous membrane of vagina, convulsions, sever anaemia, paddling of legs at frequent interval. After preparation of peripheral thin blood smear from animal at the site of collection and fixation with methanol, blood sample brought to Department of Veterinary Parasitology, College of Veterinary Science and A.H, Jabalpur and stained by standard protocol for Giemsa staining. Genomic DNA was isolated from the collected blood sample using QIAamp® DNA blood mini kit following the manufacturer’s recommendations and PCR was performed. Conclusion: The thin blood smear examination revealed the presence of Babesia parasite. The species of Babesia was confirmed by molecular amplification of genomic DNA as B. bigemina. This might be the first confirmed report of cerebral babesiosis caused by B. bigemina from Central India.

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Progression towards endemic stability to bovine babesiosis in cattle introduced onto a game ranch : research communication

Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research ◽

10.4102/ojvr.v71i4.254 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 71 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Assefa Regassa ◽

B.L. Penzhorn ◽

N.R. Bryson

Keyword(s):

Fluorescent Antibody ◽

Tick Control ◽

Babesia Bovis ◽

Cattle Ranching ◽

Indirect Fluorescent Antibody ◽

Babesia Bigemina ◽

High Seroprevalence ◽

Bovine Babesiosis ◽

Research Communication ◽

Endemic Stability

An opportunity to study progression toward endemic stability to Babesia bigemina arose when cattle were reintroduced onto a game ranch in 1999 after an absence of three years. The study was conducted between August 2000 and June 2001. The unvaccinated breeding cows were sampled only once. Calves born during October 1999 were initially vaccinated against B. bigemina and Babesia bovis at the age of 4 months and were then bled at 10, 17 and 20 months of age. Calves born during 2000 were bled at 7 and 8 months of age. Sera were collected from all the cattle sampled and later tested for antibodies against B. bigemina and B. bovis using the indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) test. Although endemic stability to B. bigemina had not been achieved at Nooitgedacht 2 years after resumption of cattle ranching, the high seroprevalence in the unvaccinated 8- month-old calves suggested that the situation was approaching stability and that calf vaccination against bovine babesiosis was not required. Tick control should therefore be restricted to prevent excessive tick worry. Only vaccinated cattle were positive to B. bovis and it was concluded that the parasite was absent from the ranch.

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Habitat use and selection by takin in the Qinling Mountains, China

Wildlife Research ◽

10.1071/wr16011 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 43 (8) ◽

pp. 671 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Wen-Bo Yan ◽

Zhi-Gao Zeng ◽

Hui-Sheng Gong ◽

Xiang-Bo He ◽

Xin-Yu Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Habitat Selection ◽

Home Range ◽

Habitat Use ◽

Landscape Scale ◽

Conservation Strategies ◽

Large Species ◽

Qinling Mountains ◽

Habitat Types ◽

Forest Habitats ◽

Selection Of

Context Understanding habitat use and selection by threatened ungulates is a crucial prerequisite to prioritise management areas and for developing effective conservation strategies. Aims The aim of our research was to determine the habitat use and selection of takins (Budorcas taxicolor) in the middle range of the Qinling Mountains, China. Methods The study was conducted from August 2013 to August 2015. Global positioning system (GPS) radio-tracking was used to monitor 10 collared takins to gain their location information. The Manly–Chesson selectivity index and Bonferroni-adjusted 95% confidence intervals were applied to determine which habitats were selected. Key results Habitat use and selection by takins showed obvious individual differences. At the landscape scale, all of the four most common habitat types were preferred by takins. However, all takins avoided artificially planted larch forest, and farmland and village. Available habitats within the home ranges also mostly included the four common habitat types. At the home-range scale, all individuals had significant habitat selectivity during the entire tracking period and each season. The habitat use and selection within the home range varied obviously with season and showed sexual differences to a certain extent. Conclusions The habitat selection by takins is scale-dependent. At the landscape scale, takins are most likely to occur at sites covered by forest. At both landscape and home-range scales, our results indicated that takins need more diverse forest habitats, but none of the four most common forest habitats is essential for survival of this species. Implications The present work has provided more insight into the habitat use and habitat selection of takins in mountainous forest landscapes. Many measures such as maintaining a diversity of forest habitats, avoiding habitat alteration by invasion of exotic plants, and increasing the area of available habitats by relocating the villages from within to outside of the reserve are recommended to conserve this large species.

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Bovine babesiosis: Cattle protected in the field with a frozen vaccine containing Babesia bovis and Babesia bigemina cultured in vitro with a serum-free medium

Parasitology International ◽

10.1016/j.parint.2017.11.004 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 67 (2) ◽

pp. 190-195 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Carmen Rojas-Martínez ◽

Roger Iván Rodríguez-Vivas ◽

Julio Vicente Figueroa Millán ◽

Carlos Ramón Bautista-Garfias ◽

Roberto Omar Castañeda-Arriola ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Babesia Bovis ◽

Serum Free Medium ◽

Free Medium ◽

Babesia Bigemina ◽

Bovine Babesiosis ◽

Serum Free

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Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Ixodida: Ixodidae) Larvae Collected From Vegetation in the Coastal Wildlife Corridor of Southern Texas and Research Solutions for Integrated Eradication

Journal of Medical Entomology ◽

10.1093/jme/tjaa002 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 57 (4) ◽

pp. 1305-1309 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Weste L A Osbrink ◽

Allan T Showler ◽

Veronica Abrigo ◽

Adalberto A Pérez de León

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

The United States ◽

Boophilus Microplus ◽

Babesia Bovis ◽

Cattle Tick ◽

Bovine Babesiosis ◽

Wildlife Corridor ◽

Eradication Program ◽

Cattle Fever Tick ◽

Cattle Fever Ticks

Abstract The potential for reinvasion of the United States by cattle fever ticks, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus and Rhipicephalus microplus (Canestrini), which remain established in Mexico, threatens the viability of the domestic livestock industry because these ticks vector the causal agents (Babesia bovis and Babesia bigemina) of bovine babesiosis. The Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program safeguards the health of the national cattle herd preventing the reemergence of bovine babesiosis by keeping the United States free of cattle fever ticks. Here, the collection of free-living southern cattle tick, R. microplus, larvae by sweeping flannel flags over vegetation in the wildlife corridor of Cameron and Willacy Counties, TX, is reported. Finding R. microplus larvae on vegetation complements reports of infestations in wildlife hosts inhabiting the southern Texas coastal plains. Land uses and environmental conditions have changed since cattle fever ticks were eradicated from the United States by 1943. These changes complicate efforts by the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program to keep cattle in the United States free of the cattle fever tick disease vectors. Current scientific research on technologies that could be used for area-wide management of fever tick larvae in south Texas and how this could be applied to integrated eradication efforts are discussed.

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Predicting Protein Therapeutic Candidates for Bovine Babesiosis Using Secondary Structure Properties and Machine Learning

Frontiers in Genetics ◽

10.3389/fgene.2021.716132 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Stephen J. Goodswen ◽

Paul J. Kennedy ◽

John T. Ellis

Keyword(s):

Machine Learning ◽

Secondary Structure ◽

Structural Properties ◽

Protein Secondary Structure ◽

Accessible Surface Area ◽

Machine Learning Algorithms ◽

Babesia Bovis ◽

Solvent Accessible Surface Area ◽

Babesia Bigemina ◽

Bovine Babesiosis

Bovine babesiosis causes significant annual global economic loss in the beef and dairy cattle industry. It is a disease instigated from infection of red blood cells by haemoprotozoan parasites of the genus Babesia in the phylum Apicomplexa. Principal species are Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina, and Babesia divergens. There is no subunit vaccine. Potential therapeutic targets against babesiosis include members of the exportome. This study investigates the novel use of protein secondary structure characteristics and machine learning algorithms to predict exportome membership probabilities. The premise of the approach is to detect characteristic differences that can help classify one protein type from another. Structural properties such as a protein’s local conformational classification states, backbone torsion angles ϕ (phi) and ψ (psi), solvent-accessible surface area, contact number, and half-sphere exposure are explored here as potential distinguishing protein characteristics. The presented methods that exploit these structural properties via machine learning are shown to have the capacity to detect exportome from non-exportome Babesia bovis proteins with an 86–92% accuracy (based on 10-fold cross validation and independent testing). These methods are encapsulated in freely available Linux pipelines setup for automated, high-throughput processing. Furthermore, proposed therapeutic candidates for laboratory investigation are provided for B. bovis, B. bigemina, and two other haemoprotozoan species, Babesia canis, and Plasmodium falciparum.

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Bovine babesiosis and anaplasmosis complex: diagnosis and evaluation of the risk factors from Bahia, Brazil

Revista Brasileira de Parasitologia Veterinária ◽

10.1590/s1984-29612014064 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 328-336 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Lucimar Souza Amorim ◽

Amauri Arias Wenceslau ◽

Fábio Santos Carvalho ◽

Paulo Luíz Souza Carneiro ◽

George Rêgo Albuquerque

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Blood Smear ◽

Diagnostic Methods ◽

Babesia Bovis ◽

Babesia Bigemina ◽

Bovine Babesiosis ◽

Good Tool ◽

Blood Samples ◽

Kappa Test ◽

Blood Smears

Direct diagnoses were made by using - blood smears and nested PCR (nPCR) tests on 309 blood samples from crossbred dairy cattle in the municipality of Ibicaraí, Bahia. From diagnostic blood smear slides, the observed parasitic frequencies were 31.1% for Anaplasma marginale and 20.4% for Babesia sp. From nPCR diagnoses, they were 63% for A. marginale, 34% for Babesia bigemina and 20.4% for Babesia bovis. There were significant differences (P <0.01) between the two diagnostic methods (nPCR and blood smear slides). The compliance obtained from the kappa test was 0.41 and 0.48 for A. marginale and Babesia sp., respectively. The tick samples from the six farms analyzed using nPCR were only positive for A. marginale. Evaluation of the risk factors relating to the presence of ticks and the age of the animals showed that there was a significant association (P <0.01) with the frequency of animals infected with both pathogens. Therefore, under the conditions studied, nPCR proved to be a good tool for diagnosing the agents of the bovine babesiosis and anaplasmosis complex because of its sensitivity and specificity in comparison with blood smears. The municipality of Ibicaraí is an area with endemic prevalence of bovine babesiosis and anaplasmosis confirmed by nPCR and A. marginale is the main agent of the disease.

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