Abstract

Background:
Babesia infections in sheep can cause a wide range of clinical and laboratory presentations. Changes in Blood parameters are a meaningful manifestation of physiological and pathological changes in an organism.
Aim:
Therefore, the present study was conducted to analyze and compare haematological and biochemical parameters between blood profiles of Lohi sheep naturally infected and un-infected with Babesia ovis, the main causative agent of ovine babesiosis.
Methods:
Initially, blood and serum samples from 67 Lohi sheep were collected, DNA was extracted and babesial infection was detected through PCR. Overall infection rate of B. ovis was 37% (25/67). Sixteen infected (experiment group) and sixteen uninfected (control group) sheep that were apparently healthy with no history of previous treatment for Babesiosis, were selected for haemato-biochemical analysis. Blood samples were analyzed through an automatic CBC analyzer, while serum collected from gel-vacutainers was analyzed for blood urea, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine and total bilirubin. Each parameter was compared between infected and un-infected animals using a paired t-test in Minitab Express™ software for statistical analyses.
Results:
Erythron comparison showed a highly significant (P

Key words: Ovine babesiosis, Molecular detection, Blood parameters, Lohi sheep breed, Pakistan