Detection of incidence of Babesia spp. in sheep and goats by parasitological diagnostic techniques.

The present study was undertaken on epidemiology and diagnosis of babesiosis in sheep and goats in Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts of Karnataka state from November 2017 to May 2018. Out of 343 (225 sheep and 118 goats) blood smears examined by Giemsa and acridine orange (AO) fluorescent dye staining methods, 3.55 and 4.0 per cent of sheep and 0.84 and 1.69 per cent of goat samples were found positive for Babesia organisms, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity was found to be higher in AO fluorescent dye staining method. In agewise susceptibility, the percent positivity was found to be higher in animals > 6 months old. In genderwise susceptibility, the percent positivity was found to be higher in females than males. Hence, AO fluorescent dye staining method is found to be very rapid and cost effective diagnostic method for treatment and control of babesiosis.