Isolation and transmission ofCowdriaruminantium (causal agent of heartwater disease) in Blue Nile Province, Sudan

Heartwater was diagnosed in sheep at the Umm Banein Livestock Research Station, Blue Nile Province, Sudan.Cowdriaruminantium was isolated from sheep by subinoculation of blood into a goat. AdultAmblyommalepidum ticks fed as nymphs on this goat transmitted heartwater to a Friesian (Bostaurus) calf. Brain stabilates from this calf, either snapfrozen into liquid nitrogen or frozen slowly in a deepfreezer at −70°C, with DMSD as cryoprotectant, were infective to cattle when inoculated subcutaneously.