Theileria ovis discovered in China

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using 989/990 primers was conducted to identify a newly isolated Theileria sp. in Xinjiang Province of China. The target DNA fragments of the complete 18S rRNA gene were cloned and sequenced. The phylogenetic relationship of newly isolated Theileria spp. was inferred based on the 18S rRNA gene. The results showed that the new Theileria sp. belonged to the cluster of Theileria ovis. Moreover, the findings were confirmed by T. ovis species-specific PCR. An expected 520 bp fragment of T. ovis DNA was obtained from 25 out of 320 (8%) field blood samples, and blood of an experimental sheep infested by Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum collected in Xinjiang. The infection rate of T. ovis was 78% (25/32) in Xinjiang province. The investigation did not find T. ovis positive samples from the field samples collected from the other twelve provinces. This study indicates that T. ovis is prevalent in Xinjiang province of China and its transmission vector is H. anatolicum anatolicum.