Ehrlichia ruminantium (formerly Cowdria ruminantium) is a tick-borne rickettsial pathogen that infects cattle, causing heartwater or cowdriosis. The disease is widespread in most of sub-Saharan Africa and on several islands in the Caribbean, where it is a serious constraint to animal production.

The Sanger Institute performed some of the initial shotgun sequencing for this project, in collaboration with Dr. F. Jongejan and Dr. E. de Vries of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology of Utrecht University and Dr. B. Allsopp of the University of Pretoria Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, South Africa. This was supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.

The sequencing was completed, and the genomic analysis performed, by Dr. B. Allsopp of the University of Pretoria Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, South Africa.

This analysis is described in Collins et al. P.N.A.S. 102, 838-843, and the sequence and annotation is available from their E. ruminantium web pages