Occurrence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in goats and sheep in Hebei Province, China

Anaplasma phagocytophilum is an emerging pathogen known to cause human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA). Here we determined the prevalence and genetic characterization of A. phagocytophilum in Hebei Province, China. A total of 253 samples were taken from goats and sheep in Hebei Province, and 52 (20.6%) were positive for A. phagocytophilum. There was a higher positive rate in sheep (23.8%, 20/84) than in goats (18.9%, 32/169). Analysis of the partial 16S RNA gene sequences of A. phagocytophilum revealed that the isolates in this study were members of the same clade and were 100% homologous with each other. This study provides information on the epidemiologic features of A. phagocytophilum.