L'ehrlichiose granulocytaire ovine en France

Although it has been know for a long time in several European countries, ovine tick-borne fever (TBF) was identified in France only in April 2006, based on new data provided by epidemiosurveillance systems and on the introduction of modern diagnostic technologies. These techniques of indirect immunofluorescence and PCR genic amplification had already been used in 1999 on the bovine form of TBF. Ovine « mountain fever » was well known in the Basque Country and Bearn region of Southwest France, but the cause remained unknown. Breeders and veterinary practitioners recognised its signs as a summer respiratory syndrome, sensitive to oxytetracyclin, affecting young animals following their first summer grazing. The identification of the pathogen opens new prospects for other regions with transhumant flocks of sheep and goats, these two species being efficient reservoirs for the pathogen, Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Sheep and goats are also good indicators of the presence of the riskettsia. This is a useful characteristic as Anaplasma phagocytophilum may also infect man and cause a “summer flu-like syndrome”, a widely under diagnosed condition, considered as a minor zoonosis.