Tick Transmission of Anaplasma Centrale

Anaplasma centrale was isolated from a field collection of Rhipicephalus simus. Transstadial transmission of A. centrale with adult ticks was demonstrated, but the infection was not carried transovarially. Ticks from this collection were subsequently reared as a non-infected, laboratory strain. It was proved that the Onderstepoort live blood vaccine strain of A. centrale, isolated by Theiler in 1911, is still tick transmissible after more than 75 years of needle passage through cattle in the laboratory. Attempts to demonstrate transstadial transmission of the vaccine strain with Boophilus decoloratus and Boophilus microplus failed.