Dr. S. K. RavalVIDHYA LAKSHMI T.M2017-02-272017-02-272015http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810002771Horses (Equus caballus) belong to the family Equidae. Equine demography of India reveals 41% population distribution of horses and ponies and 59% of mules and donkeys. Total Indian equine population is 1.77 million (NRCE, 2011), which includes defined Indian horse breeds and Non-descript horses. Equine piroplasmosis caused by Theileria equi and Babesia caballi is an economically important hemoprotozoan disease of horses in tropical and subtropical parts of the world. In 1976, the equine piroplasmosis was reported in an outbreak form in imported horses and recorded 50.1% and 49.76% incidence in North-West India by CAT & Dot-ELISA. National serosurveillance analysis at NRCE has revealed 28.58% of overall seroprevalence of T. equi from India. The latent infection is common in non-descript equids of India. These animals act as nucleus for maintaining as well as spreading the infection through vector ticks. Thus the diagnosis of sub-clinical infection is of more relevance as these animals can remain carriers to the T. equi parasite throughout their life span. These latently infected animals may exhibit low performance following physical, immunological or mental stress due to the flare-up of underlying parasitemia leading to clinical form of the disease condition.enveterinary science, veterinary medicinestudyThesis