The occurrence of Anaplasma phagocyto- philum in wild bison from the Bialowieza Primeval Forest in Eastern Poland.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the occurrence of Anaplasma spp. in a group of 120 wild bison (Bison bonasus) from the Bialowieza Primeval Forest in eastern Poland and to determine which species of Anaplasma could infect these animals based on a PCR of a part of the 16S rRNA gene followed by sequencing. The PCR technique showed the presence of 16S rRNA Anaplasma spp. genetic material in the blood of 22 from a total of 120 animals. DNA amplification by means of the primers EHR 521 and EHR 747 gave a product size of 252-bp. The sequences of the PCR products obtained showed 100% homology with each other and 100% homology with the Anaplasma phagocytophilum GU 183908 sequence from our earlier study, isolated from a horse with a clinical case of anaplasmosis. The similarity of the sequences with the sequences of the 16S rRNA gene isolated from various Anaplasma species deposited in the GeneBank, ranged between 95.8% and 98.8%. Based on the results of molecular analysis, bacterial DNA detected in the blood of 22 wild bison was identified as Anaplasma phagocytophilum.