Parasitology
Bijan Esmaeilnejad; Awat Samiei; Zahra Darabizade; Mohsen Akhoondi; Romina Salavati; Bahar Ahooghalandari; Vahid Fathipour; Arash Akhavan; Armin Fakheri
Volume 15, Issue 4 , April 2024, , Pages 211-214
Abstract
A 6-year-old male domestic short-haired cat (Felis catus) was presented with weakness, anorexia, fever, icterus, a painful abdomen, ruffled hair and a tick infestation, and it had no prior surgery. Laboratory analysis revealed left-shifted neutrophils, thrombocytopenia, low albumin content and high serum ...
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A 6-year-old male domestic short-haired cat (Felis catus) was presented with weakness, anorexia, fever, icterus, a painful abdomen, ruffled hair and a tick infestation, and it had no prior surgery. Laboratory analysis revealed left-shifted neutrophils, thrombocytopenia, low albumin content and high serum bilirubin concentration as well as activities of hepatic enzymes including alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase. Azotemia and increased serum levels of creatinine and urea were also recorded. In Giemsa-stained blood smear, Hepatozoon gamonts were observed within neutrophils. Species-specific polymerase chain reaction assay was used to amplify an approximately 590 bp fragment of 18S rRNA gene and confirmed Hepatozoon felis infection. The cat was treated with imidocarb dipropionate and doxycycline and recovered completely. Six-month follow-up showed no recurrence. This study reveals the presence of H. felis in Iran and it should be considered in differential diagnosis in febrile and icteric cats. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first description of H. felis infection in a cat in Iran.
Vahid Fathipour; Bijan Esmaeilnejad; Gholamreza Habibi; Asghar Afshari; Mousa Tavassoli; Siyamak Asri-Rezaei; Mahmood Mollazadeh; Sepideh Rajabi
Volume 12, Issue 4 , December 2021, , Pages 519-522
Abstract
A 2-year-old female Shih Tzu dog was submitted with the history of anorexia and depression for one week and no prior surgery. Fever and pale mucosa were noticed in physical examination. Microscopic examination of the Giemsa-stained blood smear disclosed large form of Babesia and single to four pear-shaped ...
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A 2-year-old female Shih Tzu dog was submitted with the history of anorexia and depression for one week and no prior surgery. Fever and pale mucosa were noticed in physical examination. Microscopic examination of the Giemsa-stained blood smear disclosed large form of Babesia and single to four pear-shaped merozoites within erythrocytes (RBCs). Regenerative anemia characterized by a marked reticulocytosis, significant intra-vascular hemolysis, nucleated RBCs, left-shifted neutrophils, thrombocytopenia, azotemia, high serum creatinine and urea concentrations were recorded following hemato-biochemical analysis. Abundant bilirubin crystals and abnormal reddish color after centrifugation were observed in urinalysis. Molecular analysis was performed using specific primers for detection of Babesia canis. Diminazene aceturate, ciprofloxacin, ivermectin and phosphorus-vitamin B12 were prescribed and the clinical signs improved after four days. Two months follow-up showed no recurrence. Such studies would significantly contribute to the development of appropriate preventive strategies and successful treatment. This communication reports a clinical case of canine babesiosis caused by B. canis in a female Shih Tzu dog.
Attaollah Hajihassani; Shilan Maroufi; Bijan Esmaeilnejad; Hajir Khorram; Mousa Tavassoli; Bahram Dalir-Naghadeh; Awat Samiei
Volume 11, Issue 2 , June 2020, , Pages 191-193
Abstract
Various species of Trypanosoma parasites are known to infect several wild and domestic animals worldwide. A 7-year-old Holstein cow from Baneh, Kurdistan province, was examined by a private veterinarian due to anorexia and depression. Physical examination revealed fever, enlarged subscapular lymph ...
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Various species of Trypanosoma parasites are known to infect several wild and domestic animals worldwide. A 7-year-old Holstein cow from Baneh, Kurdistan province, was examined by a private veterinarian due to anorexia and depression. Physical examination revealed fever, enlarged subscapular lymph node, and pale mucosa. Blood samples were taken for hemato-logical, parasitological, and PCR examination. The large Trypanosoma spp. was microscopically observed in a stained blood smear. Decreased red blood cells (RBCs) count, packed cell volume and hemoglobin concentration were observed through complete blood cell count. Nucleated RBCs were also found in this case. Species-specific PCR assay confirmed T. theileri infection. Treatment was performed subcutaneously with diminazene aceturate. The clinical signs were improved after two days. Two-month follow-up showed no recurrence. In conclusion, T. theileri is characterized by anemia and pyrexia in a cow. To our knowledge, the present case report describes the first molecular evidence of T. theileri in Kurdistan, West of Iran.
Parasitology
Seyyed Mostafa Mohammadi; Bijan Esmaeilnejad; Ghader Jalilzadeh-Amin
Volume 8, Issue 2 , June 2017, , Pages 139-144
Abstract
This study was aimed to determine the infection rate and vectors of Theileria lestoquardi in goats from West Azerbaijan province, Iran. A total of 400 blood samples were collected from 40 randomly selected flocks in the study area from June to September, 2014. Out of 400 blood samples examined using ...
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This study was aimed to determine the infection rate and vectors of Theileria lestoquardi in goats from West Azerbaijan province, Iran. A total of 400 blood samples were collected from 40 randomly selected flocks in the study area from June to September, 2014. Out of 400 blood samples examined using microscopic examination, a number of 14 goats (3.50%) were positive for Theileria spp., whereas 25 goats (6.25%) yielded a specific T. lestoquardi SSU-rRNA fragment (235 bp). The prevalence of theileriosis in goats estimated by semi-nested PCR was significantly higher than the prevalence estimated by microscopic examination of the blood smears. The prevalence of Theileria infection in different age and sex groups of goats was not significantly different. The highest and lowest prevalence of Theileria infection was in July (12.00%) and September (2.00%), respectively. A number of 315 adult Ixodid ticks were also collected from naturally infested goats and they were characterized. Out of 315 examined ticks, a number of 37 ticks including Hyalomma marginatum (65.20%), Rhipicephalus turanicus (44.00%), and Dermacentor marginatus (68.70%) were infected by T. lestoquardi. Based on the obtained results, it was concluded that the semi-nested PCR assay based on SSU-rRNA gene is a valuable method for epidemiological investigation of caprine theileriosis. The results showed that H. marginatum, R. turanicus and D. marginatus can be considered as risk factor in the epidemiology of T. lestoquardi.
Jafar Arjmand; Bijan Esmaeilnejad; Mohammad Hossein Razi Jalali; Masoud Ghorbanpoor; Seyyed Meysam Abtahi Froushani
Volume 5, Issue 2 , June 2014, , Pages 141-144
Abstract
Fasciolosis is a disease caused by liver fluck of the genus of fasciola. Diagnosis of fasciolosis has been challenging for a long period due to low sensitivity of the coprological diagnostic method. In this study, an in-house Dot-ELISA method; using excretion–secretory (ES Ag) and Crude (Cr Ag) ...
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Fasciolosis is a disease caused by liver fluck of the genus of fasciola. Diagnosis of fasciolosis has been challenging for a long period due to low sensitivity of the coprological diagnostic method. In this study, an in-house Dot-ELISA method; using excretion–secretory (ES Ag) and Crude (Cr Ag) antigens of fasciola was described for diagnosis of fasciolosis in cattle. For this purpose, the sera specimens of slaughtered cattle were taken and examined for fasciola infection. Sera from two groups of cattle, one infected with fasciola (n = 60) and the other non-infected with fasciola (n = 60), were used in the Dot- ELISA test. All sera were tested and evaluated. Except specificity, other parameters such as, sensitivity, accuracy, positive and negative predictive values of Dot- ELISA with ES Ag were better than those of Dot- ELISA with Cr Ag. In conclusion, excretory–secretory antigen dependent Dot-ELISA can be used as a reliable sero-diagnostic test for fasciola infection in cattle.
Mousa Tavassoli; Mohammad Ghorbanzadehghan; Bijan Esmaeilnejad
Volume 4, Issue 1 , March 2013, , Pages 43-47
Abstract
Infection by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, is widespread in humans and many other warm-blooded animals. More than half billion of world human population has serum antibodies to T. gondii and Sheep and goats are more widely infected with T. gondii. T. gondii infection can be diagnosed indirectly ...
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Infection by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, is widespread in humans and many other warm-blooded animals. More than half billion of world human population has serum antibodies to T. gondii and Sheep and goats are more widely infected with T. gondii. T. gondii infection can be diagnosed indirectly with serological methods and directly by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), hybridization, isolation and histology. A total number of 124 goats and 113 sheep blood samples were collected from Urmia region and PCR was used for detection of the pathogenic protozoan T. gondii using B1 gene. The targeted B1 gene is highly conserved in all T. gondii strains and is multiple copy genes whit in the T. gondii genome. The method used for the characterization of T. gondii strains implied digestion with AluI restriction enzyme of the fragments amplified. The results indicated three positive sheep (1.26%) with one RFLP patterns. The results indicated that the same strain of T. gondii has infected sheep in the region.
