IDENTIFICATION OF A GRANULOCYTIC EHRLICHIA STRAIN ISOLATED FROM A HORSE IN SWITZERLAND AND COMPARISON WITH OTHER RICKETTSIAE OF THE EHRLICHIA-PHAGOCYTOPHILA GENOGROUP

This case report describes a 12-year-old Arabian mare with granulocyti c ehrlichiosis. Clinical signs included fever, apathy, anorexia, icter us, limb edema, and reluctance to move. Examination of buffy coat smea rs revealed Ehrlichia organisms in neutrophils and eosinophils. A band of 1,428 bp was amplified from DNA of leukocytes via nested PCR and w as identified as part of the Ehrlichia 16S rRNA gene. It differed from the gene sequences of Ehrlichia phagocytophila and E. equi at two and three positions, respectively. Interestingly, the nucleotide sequence of the 16S rRNA was 100% identical to that of the agent of human gran ulocytic ehrlichiosis.