Correlation between the morphology and infectivity of Theileria lawrencei developing in the tick Rhipicephalus appendiculatus

Abstract

Adult Rhipicephalus appendiculatus ticks, infected as nymphs by feeding them on an African buffalo harbouring Theileria lawrencei, were applied to the ears of rabbits. Equal numbers of the feeding ticks were removed daily from rabbits and either dissected and processed so that parasites in their salivary glands could be examined morphologically and classified, or ground in Eagle's Minimal Essential Medium, to harvest parasites from the ticks in the resultant supernatant fluid. The infectivity of the supernatant fluid was tested by inoculation of aliquots into groups of susceptible cattle. It was found that supernatant fluids produced from day 0 to day 2 fed ticks were uninfected to cattle but those produced from 3 to 9 days were infective. The most infective supernatant fluid was produced from 6 day fed ticks. The reactions resulting in cattle were correlated with the number and morphology of parasites in sections of salivary glands and it was found that mature parasites coincided with infectivity of the supernatant fluid to cattle. From the reactions in cattle inoculated with supernatant fluids from 5- and 6-day fed ticks it was concluded that this method of harvesting parasites was efficient. Examination of the salivary glands of a representative sample of a T. lawrencei infected tick batch is a potential means of screening material for T. lawrencei stabilates.