{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T03:02:53Z","timestamp":1787022173672,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,30]],"date-time":"2025-05-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748563200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002383","name":"King Saud University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["RSPD2025R971"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RSPD2025R971"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002383","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Despite a goat population of approximately 80 million in Pakistan during 2020\u22122021, the prevalence of vector-borne pathogens in goats remains largely underexplored. This study aimed to assess the molecular prevalence and phylogenetic characteristics of\n                    <jats:italic>Anaplasma ovis, Anaplasma marginale<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>Anaplasma phagocytophilum<\/jats:italic>\n                    in goat blood samples (N\u2009=\u2009239) collected from three districts (Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, and Dera Ghazi Khan) in Punjab between September 2023 and October 2024. Blood samples were first screened with generic and then with species specific primers. Molecular analyses revealed a prevalence of 39% for\n                    <jats:italic>Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n                    spp. and 14% for\n                    <jats:italic>A. ovis<\/jats:italic>\n                    .\n                    <jats:italic>A. marginale<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>A. phagocytophilum<\/jats:italic>\n                    were not detected. DNA sequencing, by targeting 16S rRNA and\n                    <jats:italic>msp4<\/jats:italic>\n                    genes, and BLAST analysis confirmed the presence of\n                    <jats:italic>Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n                    spp. and\n                    <jats:italic>A. ovis,<\/jats:italic>\n                    respectively. For both screening, bacterial prevalence rates varied significantly across sampling sites (P\u2009=\u20090.01 for\n                    <jats:italic>Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n                    spp. and P\u2009=\u20090.04 for\n                    <jats:italic>A. ovis<\/jats:italic>\n                    ). Additionally, the prevalence of\n                    <jats:italic>Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n                    spp. significantly differed among goat breeds (P\u2009=\u20090.004), while no association was found between goat sex and bacterial infections (P\u2009&gt;\u20090.05 for both screening). Notably,\n                    <jats:italic>Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n                    spp. infection was associated with a significant decrease in red blood cell count and hemoglobin concentration, while\n                    <jats:italic>A. ovis<\/jats:italic>\n                    infection did not affect the complete blood count profile. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that our\n                    <jats:italic>Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n                    spp. isolates clustered with those from Iran, Cyprus and China while our\n                    <jats:italic>A. ovis<\/jats:italic>\n                    isolates clustered with those from Pakistan, China, and Sudan. In conclusion, this study reports the presence of\n                    <jats:italic>Anaplasma<\/jats:italic>\n                    spp. and\n                    <jats:italic>A. ovis<\/jats:italic>\n                    in Pakistani goats and recommends large-scale studies across diverse geo-climatic regions to further investigate the epidemiology, genetic diversity and host-parasite interactions for effective control of these infections in local goat populations.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0325467","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,30]],"date-time":"2025-05-30T13:48:58Z","timestamp":1748612938000},"page":"e0325467","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Molecular epidemiology and phylogeny of Anaplasma species in goats from 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