Occurrence of haemoprotozoa in dairy cattle across different animal husbandry setups in Haryana, India

The present study was conducted over a period of 1.5 years from March 2022 to August 2023 in different animal husbandry setups [gaushala (cattle shelter), organized and unorganized farm] of cattle in Haryana, covering two different agro - climatic zones, i.e., North Eastern (NE) and South Western (SW). A total of 200 apparently healthy lactating animals (2nd to 6th lactation) were randomly included in this study. From the study, it was revealed that out of 200 samples collected from different zones and animal husbandry setups in Haryana, 100 samples (50%) tested positive for the presence of haemoprotozoa. The overall occurrence of different haemoprotozoa detected in this study was 34% for Theileria spp. and 11% for Anaplasma marginale. Chi-square analysis revealed a significantly higher positivity rate of Theileria spp. and A. marginale in the NE zone as compared to the SW zone. Wald Chi-square analysis revealed a higher positivity rate of Anaplasma marginale in organized farms and a higher positivity rate of Theileria spp. in gaushala. As a measure of animal welfare, this is the first study reporting positivity of haemoprotozoan diseases and may be useful in understanding disease prevalence, pathogenesis, treatment and prognosis.