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MOLECULAR DETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF HEMOPLASMAS IN CATTLE FROM THE LOWER SHABELLE REGION, SOMALIA – PRELIMINARY DATA

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Larissa D.R. Ferrari, Ahmed A. Hassan-Kadle, Flavia C.M. Collere, Nathalia A. Soares, Abdalla M. Ibrahim, Aamir M. Osman, Mohamed A. Shair, Marcos R. André, Thállitha S.W.J. Vieira, Rosangela Z. Machado, Rafael F.C. Vieira

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Presenter: Larissa Dantas Roeder Ferrari

UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO PARANÁ

Vector-Borne Diseases Laboratory

BRAZIL

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22 - 24 March -2022

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HEMOPLASMAS

  • Small pleomorphic bacteria

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  • Surface red blood cells

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  • Mild to severe anemia

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Somalia

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  • Livestock: ¾ of all exports by value

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28.7 million goats 13.6 million sheep 7.1 million camels 3.9 million cattle

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  • Lower Shabelle: 535 thousand cattle
  • Total cattle population in Somália: 3.9* million heads (*October 2017)

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  • 2.5 million in Juba River and Shabelle River Valleys: farming regions (agro-pastoralism). Higher land productivity and higher rainfall

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Lower Shabelle

Middle Shabelle

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OBJECTIVE

  • Molecular occurrence and characterization of hemoplasmas in cattle from the Lower Shabelle Region, Somalia

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22 - 24 March -2022

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MATERIALS AND METHODS

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  • 131 cattle blood samples from Lower Shabelle, Somalia

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DNA extraction

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Real-time (qPCR)

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Mycoplasma spp.

16S rRNA gene

Positive samples

Mycoplasma wenyonii (16S rRNA gene)

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‘Candidatus Mycoplasma haematobovis’ (16S rRNA gene)

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Conventional PCR

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RESULTS

74/131

(56.48%)

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Positive for Mycoplasma spp

qPCR

Mycoplasma wenyonii 31/74 (41.89%)

‘Candidatus Mycoplasma haematobovis’ 3/74 (4.05%)

Co-infection 34/74 (45.94%)

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22 - 24 March -2022

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RESULTS (Cont.)

6/74 (8.1%) negative species-specific conventional PCR

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positive semi-nested PCR (16S rRNA gene)

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Improving detection rate

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PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS

Phylogenetic analysis of hemotropic Mycoplasma sp. 16S rRNA genes from species-specific PCR assays confirmed that animals were infected with M. wenyonii and ‘Ca. M. haematobovis’

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Sequencing of the 16S, 23S rRNA, and RNAse P gene fragments of the hemoplasma-positive samples by the semi-nested PCR assay will later confirm the hemoplasma species infecting animals.

NEXT STEPS

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First study on the detection and molecular characterization of hemoplasmas in cattle from Somalia

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22 - 24 March -2022

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Thank you!

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