Development of an ELISA technique for the detection of Babesia ovis and serological survey of the parasite in Khouzestan province, southern Iran

Document Type : Full paper (Original article)

Authors

1 Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Islamic Azad University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

2 Department of Parasitology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

3 Department of Microbiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

4 Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

5 Department of Mathematic and Statistics, School of Sciences, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

To develop an ELISA technique for the detection of antibodies against Babesia ovis, the infected
erythrocytes were lysed and the supernatant soluble antigen, after sonication and ultracentrifugation of the
lysate was used as antigen. Optimal dilution of the antigen was determined by checkerboard titrations, using
positive and negative control sera. A correlation of 85% was observed between the results of the developed
ELISA and IFA techniques. To study the seroprevalence of Babesia ovis in Khouzestan province, south of
Iran, a total of 1000 sheep sera were collected from different areas of the province and tested against Babesia ovis using the ELISA technique developed. The results showed an average seroprevalence of 47.5% in the province. Our results indicated a significant increase of the seroprevalence by advancement of age of the animals. There was no significant difference between the seroprevalence of female and male sheep.

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