East Coast Fever

Starting paper for PCR: [1]

• The authors identified several infections in cattle from farms in Angola using PCR. Theileria--the parasite which causes East Coast fever--was targeted using primers for its 18S rRNA. This set of primers amplified species of the genera Theileria and Babesia. To further differentiate, the 18S rRNA was fully sequenced which elucidated genus and species. There are several species of Theileria which can cause different symptoms so it is important to know which species has infected the cattle. The most severe strain, T. parva, was not detected in these samples but another pathogenic strain, T. velifera, was found in the cattle.