02587naa a2200337 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001902400340006010000150009424501960010926000090030550002980031452011660061265300240177865300160180265300110181865300330182965300180186265300310188065300160191165300160192765300240194370000210196770000170198870000150200570000190202070000200203970000170205970000280207677301450210410616952021-05-21       2021    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d7 a10.1177/10406387209757422DOI1 aPARODI, P.  aValidation of a multiplex PCR assay to detect Babesia spp. and Anaplasma marginale in cattle in Uruguay in the absence of a gold standard test. (Full Scientific Report)h[electronic resource]  c2021  aArticle history: Article first published online: November 30, 2020; Issue published: January 1, 2021. Acknowledgments: We thank Dra. María Angélica Solari (DILAVE-Montevideo), and the veterinarians and farmers who submitted samples. Corresponding author: Pablo Parodi: pabloparodi7@gmail.com  aAbstract: Detection of bovine Babesia spp. and Anaplasma marginale is based on the reading of Giemsa-stained blood or organ smears, which can have low sensitivity. Our aim was to improve the detection of bovine Babesia spp. and A. marginale by validating a multiplex PCR (mPCR). We used 466 samples of blood and/or organs of animals with signs and presumptive autopsy findings of babesiosis or anaplasmosis. The primers in our mPCR amplified the rap-1a gene region of Babesia bovis and B. bigemina, and the msp-5 region of A. marginale. We used a Bayesian model with a non-informative priori distribution for the prevalence estimate and informative priori distribution for estimation of sensitivity and specificity. The sensitivity and specificity for smear detection of Babesia spp. were 68.6% and 99.1%, and for A. marginale 85.6% and 98.8%, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity for mPCR detection for Babesia spp. were 94.2% and 97.1%, and for A. marginale 95.2% and 92.7%, respectively. Our mPCR had good accuracy in detecting Babesia spp. and A. marginale, and would be a reliable test for veterinarians to choose the correct treatment for each agent.  aANAPLASMA MARGINALE  aBABESIA SPP  aCATTLE  aENFERMEDADES DE LOS ANIMALES  aMULTIPLEX PCR  aPLATAFORMA DE SALUD ANIMAL  aSENSITIVITY  aSPECIFICITY  aTICK-BORNE DISEASES1 aCORBELLINI, L.G.1 aLEOTTI, V.B.1 aRIVERO, R.1 aMIRABALLES, C.1 aRIET-CORREA, F.1 aVENZAL, J.M.1 aARMÚA-FERNÁNDEZ, M.T.  tJournal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation, Volume 33, Issue 1, January 2021, Pages 73-79. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1040638720975742