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Clinical Significance

Cattle

Infection with Anaplasma bovis causes a disease known as monocytic anaplasmosis in cattle. Infection is characterized by invasion of the organism into white blood cells called monocytes. Infection with A. bovis in cattle is also known to be asymptomatic in most cases. The OIE reports that A. bovis does not cause disease, however case reports of clinical illness do exist. Clinical disease is most likely to be detected in calves. Clinically apparent infection manifests as a febrile illness with enlarged prescapular lymph nodes, mucous discharge, and pale mucous membranes. Anaplasmosis is also known to be a production limiting disease resulting in decreased milk production and weight loss .Other species of Anaplasma, most commonly A. marginale, are well documented to cause disease in cattle.

Other species

There is a case report in the literature of infection with A. bovis in a horse. The horse presented with anorexia, low body condition, lethargy, and was febrile. A. bovis may also infect various types of deer, buffalo, goats, cottontail rabbits, racoons, and dogs. A. bovis is not known to be transmissible to people and as such does not have zoonotic potential.

Diagnosis, Prevention, and Treatment

Diagnosis of Anaplasma infections relies mainly on visual inspection of blood smears along with molecular methods such as PCR and ELISA. Live vaccines against other species of Anaplasma exist, however due to the low pathogenicity of A. bovis, there is no specific vaccine for this species. Prevention of tick bites using environmental control and parasiticides helps to prevent transmission of the organism. Tetracycline antibiotics are typically used to treat clinical anaplasmosis.