Valoración de dos métodos para identificación molecular (PCR - RFLP y qPCR) de Babesia bigemina en bovinos de zonas endémicas para babesiosis

Abstract

Bovine babesiosis is a disease caused by intraerythrocytic protozoan parasites of the genus Babesia, distributed in tropical and subtropical areas of the world, which cause anemic diseases in animals and are transmitted by ticks. Ecuador has a tropical climate that allows the development of the vector Rhipicephalus microplus, and therefore favors the transmission of Babesia spp in cattle. Climatic factors, as well as the mobility of tick-carrying animals without any type of control, allow the presence of outbreaks in new geographical areas. Babesiosis infections are difficult to detect due to the low number of parasites in peripheral blood. Therefore, DNA-based molecular methods have been used for diagnosis due to their high sensitivity and specificity, this technique being PCR. The present study was carried out in the Girón canton belonging to the province of Azuay where a total of 100 blood samples were taken from cattle, located in endemic areas for babesiosis, in which the presence of genetic material of B. bigemina was identified by means of two molecular biology techniques. The results obtained showed 43% of positive samples in the qPCR assay and 11% for PCR-RFLP, in the statistical analysis applied it was determined that there is statistical significance between the two assays, suggesting that the effectiveness of the conventional molecular method PCR RFLP is lower compared to qPCR when detecting Babesia bigemina DNA.