Tick-borne fever in cattle

Tick-borne fever in cattle caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum occurs in Sweden but the routines used by veterinary practitioners for diagnostics and treatment are not well known. Thus, a webb questionnaire containing questions on experience, diagnostics, therapy and advisory services of the disease was sent to around 500 veterinarians in spring 2023. The veterinarians were also encouraged to send blood samples from cases of clinical anaplasmosis for PCR-analysis at SVA. In total, 151 (30%) veterinarians answered the questionnaire. The results indicate that the disease occurs mainly in the southern third of the country and that the prevalence of disease has not changed markedly during the last five year-period. Treating suspected or confirmed cases of anaplasmosis with both tetracyclin and NSAID is common but the variation between veterinarians is substantial. A large proportion of the blood samples was negative for A. phagocytophilum despite clinical signs indicative of the disease, and all samples were negative for A. marginale. In addition, presence of clinical signs was not significantly associated with infection. Thus, to diagnose anaplasmosis caused by A. phagocytophilum only based on clinical signs can result in unnecessary use of antibiotics.