Other signs of infection include weight loss, diarrhea, paleness of the skin, aggressive behavior, and high fever.

[2] The Anaplasma sparouinense species is responsible for a rare zoonosis, the Sparouine anaplasmosis, detected only in French Guiana, South America.

[6] While there are no current live or inactivated vaccines effective for all strains of A. marginale approved by the USDA for anaplasmosis, there are other means of prevention.

[7] The disease is more common in the South and West parts of the United States, but is no longer considered a major problem since the use of tetracycline drugs.

[8] Mechanical and biological vector transmission work in different ways but both lead to infection of the red blood cells.

Another mechanical transmission mode is through the mouthparts of biting flies who carry an Anaplasma species of blood parasite.

[2] The most common symptoms of anaplasmosis include fever, a decreased number of white blood cells, platelets in the bloodstream, and abnormally elevated levels of liver enzymes.

Infected animals may develop a jaundiced look which then turns into paleness around the eyes, muzzle, lips, and teats of the cattle.

Tick control is widely used in some countries, including Africa, but rarely used in the United States due to the fact that this prevention method is labor-intensive and expensive.

Chemical agents can be used, sanitation methods (such as cleaning stalls/pens regularly, manure management, and protecting feed), as well as biological control by natural enemies of flies (including bees, mites, parasitoids).

Ways to prevent iatrogenic transmission include avoiding re-using of needles and sanitizing medical equipment between uses.

This includes the drugs tetracycline and imidocarb, and is used in healthy ruminants to decrease the clinical effects of an active infection.

Imidocarb has been shown to be highly effective against Anaplasma marginale, but has been identified as a possible carcinogen and is not approved in the United States or Europe.

[15] In the United States, anaplasmosis is notably present in the South and West, where the tick hosts Ixodes spp.

In the 1980s and 1990s, control of ticks through new acaricides and practical treatment with prolonged-action antibiotics, notably tetracycline, has led to the point where the disease is no longer considered a major problem.