Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2019) 8(11): 1404-1409 1404 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2019.811.164 Comparative Efficiency of Whole blood and FTA Card for Diagnosis of Theileriosis in Buffaloes of Nagpur Region, India Sabhyata Sharma*, S.W. Kolte, N.V. Kurkure, S.G. Jadhao and Swapnil Magar Department of Veterinary Parasitology, Nagpur Veterinary College, MAFSU, Nagpur, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Livestock is one of the fastest growing fields of agriculture with the higher productivity from buffaloes. As the demand of food derived from animals is on rise that has led to the introduction of new technologies which included cross breeding programmes. Due to cross breeding, milk production has increased to an extent that according to 19th livestock census, India ranks first in buffalo population. But on the other, it has led to introduction of new diseases in which theileriosis is one of the most economically important disease as it causes sudden reduction in milk yield and death in severe cases. Theileriosis, a tick borne haemoprotozoan disease of ruminants caused by parasite belonging to the genus Theileria under the sub-order Piroplasmorina (Demessie and Derso, 2015). Theileria is an obligate intracellular haemoprotozoan that infects both domestic and wild animals International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 8 Number 11 (2019) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Theileriosis is a tick borne haemoprotozoan disease caused by Theileria annulata and Theileria orientalis, mainly. The disease is known to be highly fatal and is also responsible for heavy economical loses in dairy industry. In the present study, blood samples were collected from the buffaloes suspected for theileriosis. A total of 50 blood samples from jugular vein of buffaloes were collected in EDTA tube and a drop of fresh blood was also taken on FTA card for DNA isolation. For Polymerase chain reaction, the primer sequences were used as per Kakati et al., and Kolte et al., The PCR assay employs primers specific for the gene encoding 30kDa major merozoite surface antigen of Theileria annulata and major piroplasm surface protein gene of Theileria orientalis. Out of total 50 blood samples, 13 were positive for Theileria annulata by both whole blood PCR and FTA card PCR whereas for Theileria orientalis, 23 were positive by whole blood PCR and 27 were found positive by FTA card PCR. It was found that diagnosis of Theileriosis by using FTA card is highly recommended as it is sensitive, less laborious, less chances of DNA degradation, easy and quickest method of diagnosis as compared to Whole blood. Keywords Haemaphysalis, Ambylommaand Rhipicephalus, Theileria orientalis, Haemoprotozoan Accepted: 12 October 2019 Available Online: 10 November 2019 Article Info