Animal Husbandry and Feed Science ›› 2025, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (2): 123-128.doi: 10.12160/j.issn.1672-5190.2025.02.015

• Animal Disease Prevention and Control • Previous Articles    

Serological Investigation and Analysis of Babesia caballi and Theileria equi Infections in Selected Horse Farms in Central and Western Inner Mongolia

CHENG Yi1, SUN Weijiao1, XIAO Yi1, DU Shan2, LI Hang3, WANG Wenrui4   

  1. 1. Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control of Hulunbuir City,Hailar 021008,China;
    2. Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018,China;
    3. Tongliao City Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Development Center, Tongliao 028001,China;
    4. Animal Husbandry Workstation of Horqin Left Wing Middle Banner,Tongliao 029300,China
  • Received:2025-02-11 Published:2025-07-09

Abstract: [Objective] To conduct etiological detection of Babesia caballi and Theileria equi in selected horse farms in central and western Inner Mongolia, and accurately assess the prevalence of equine babesiosis and theileriosis. [Methods] Blood samples were collected from horses using random sampling method at a horse farm in Hohhot City and another in Alxa League, Inner Mongolia. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was employed to detect antibodies against B. caballi and T. equi, with optical density (OD) values serving as the primary detection metric. Descriptive statistics (including positive rate calculations) and chi-square tests were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics software to analyze differences in pathogen infection rates between the horse farms. [Results] The positive rate for B. caballi was 50.00% at the Hohhot City farm and 0% at the Alxa League farm. The positive rate for T. equi was 77.78% at the Hohhot City farm and 0% at the Alxa League farm. The co-infection rate of B. caballi and T. equi was 44.44% at the Hohhot City farm and 0% at the Alxa League farm. Infections with B. caballi and T. equi were not associated with the sex of the horses. [Conclusion] The results indicate severe infections of B. caballi and T. equi at the Hohhot City farm, while no infections were detected at the Alxa League farm. These findings provide valuable data for understanding the epidemiological characteristics of related diseases in horse farms in central and western Inner Mongolia and provide a basis for developing targeted prevention and control strategies.

Key words: horse, Theileria equi, Babesia caballi, ELISA, antibody detection, serological investigation

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