Transmission of Anaplasma marginale by the cattle tick Boophilus microplus

Abstract

Experimental procedures were devised to determine the mode of transmission of Anaplasma marginale by the cattle tick Boophilus microplus. Transmission of anaplasmosis was achieved by trans-stadial (that is, larvae-to-nymph; nymph-to-adult female; nymph-to-adult male) and intrastadial methods (that is, transfer of the feeding stage at mid-instar from an infected host to a susceptible, splenectomized recipient). Incubation periods with the ticks and A. marginale strains employed ranged from 26 to 47 days.