Aim: Theileriosis is a protozoal disease caused by Theileria spp. mostly in warm-blooded vertebrates worldwide. It is one of the common tick-borne diseases among domestic animals in tropical and sub-tropical regions, which have a variety of unlikable effects on health economy and animal welfare. In the present study, the prevalence of theileriosis among domestic farm animals in Iran was systematically evaluated.
Methods: To identify the related papers, 10 English and Persian databases, including PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Web of Science, Medical Subject Headings, Google Scholar, Magiran, Barakatns (formerly Iranmedex), Elm net, and Scientific Information Database, were appraised for articles published throughout 1999-2017.
Results: A total of 56 papers, providing the examination of 11,317 cattle, 9394 sheep, 2991 buffaloes, 1504 horses, 600 goats, and 212 donkeys were analyzed, matching for the prevalence of theileriosis from different parts of Iran were permitted for our allowing checklist. The overall prevalence of theileriosis among domestic herbivores was expected to be 19% (95% confidence interval: 15%, 22%). Our findings highlighted the average of the maximum prevalence in Razavi Khorasan (60.4%) and West Azerbaijan (49.1%) and the minimum in Mazandaran (1.1%) and East Azerbaijan provinces (2.2%), respectively. The high prevalence of Theileria infection in the herbivores (mainly sheep) verifies the well-known enzootic episode of theileriosis in Iran, predominantly in northeastern and western parts of the country.
Conclusion: Our results suggested updated and imperative information on the true burden of theileriosis in Iran. Moreover, it could be supporting the gaps among monitoring, prevention, and control arrangements to improve the health economy, particularly among dairy farm animals.
Keywords: Iran; Theileria spp; epidemiology; livestock; systematic review.