Detection of Babesia spp. in collected ticks from deer in Lithuania

Abstract

Human babesiosis is a zoonotic disease caused by protozoan parasites of the Babesia genus, primarily in the Northeastern and Midwest United States due to B. microti, and Western Europe due to B. divergens. The current understanding of human babesiosis epidemiology is that many infections remain asymptomatic, especially in younger or immune competent individuals, and the burden of severe pathology resides within older or immunocompromised individuals. However, transfusion-transmitted babesiosis is an emerging threat to public health as asymptomatic carriers donate blood and there are as yet no licensed or regulated tests to screen blood products for this pathogen. Further, new Babesia spp. have been identified globally as agents of severe human babesiosis, suggesting that the epidemiology of this disease is rapidly changing, and it is clear that human babesiosis is a serious public health concern that requires close monitoring and effective intervention measure. In Lithuania not many research experiments have been performed on finding Babesia genus. We performed series of experiments on Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus ticks collected from deers in various regions in Lithuania. Babesia spp. were detected in 4 (1.82 %) out of 220 samples. Sequences analysis showed that ticks were infected with Babesia venatorum and Babesia microti parasites.