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Pathogens
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Babesia and Babesiosis in Animals
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Babesia and Babesiosis in Animals

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817). This special issue belongs to the section "Parasitic Pathogens".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2024) | Viewed by 4355

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Sezayi Özübek

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Parasitology Department, Firat Üniversitesi, Elazig, Turkey
Interests: ticks and borne disease; Babesia; Theileria
Prof. Dr. Münir Aktaş

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Parasitology, Veterinary Medicine, Fırat University, 23119 Elazığ, Türkiye
Interests: tick-borne pathogens; babesiosis; theileriosis; anaplasmosis; Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Babesia, which has been identified in over 100 species of domestic and wild animals since its discovery, infects a variety of mammal species and imposes a significant economic burden on the entire world. It achieves its impact by causing infections, particularly in farm animals. These losses are caused not only by animal deaths, but also by abortion, reduced meat and milk production, and disease control costs (e.g., spraying, vaccination, disease treatments, professional veterinary support and others). Canine babesiosis has also become increasingly common in recent years, posing a significant threat to the veterinary community.

Great progress has been made in gene transfection and in identifying genes responsible for the parasite's sexual phase, particularly with the acquisition of full genome and RNAseq analyses of the Babesia bovis and Babesia bigemina species that cause bovine babesiosis. However, the mechanisms underlying the Babesia parasite's life cycle remain unknown.

We encourage researchers from all over the world working on various species of Babesia to submit original research, reviews, or brief communications.

Dr. Sezayi Özübek
Prof. Dr. Münir Aktaş
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pathogens is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 2313 KiB  
Article
Molecular Identification of Piroplasmids in Ticks from Infested Small Ruminants in Konya Province, Turkey
by Zhuowei Ma, Onur Ceylan, Eloiza May Galon, Uday Kumar Mohanta, Shengwei Ji, Hang Li, Thanh Thom Do, Rika Umemiya-Shirafuji, Shimaa Abd El-Salam El-Sayed, Iqra Zafar, Mingming Liu, Ferda Sevinc and Xuenan Xuan
Pathogens 2023, 12(9), 1123; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12091123 - 1 Sep 2023
Viewed by 966
Abstract
Ticks play a pivotal role in propagating a diverse spectrum of infectious agents that detrimentally affect the health of both humans and animals. In the present study, a molecular survey was executed of piroplasmids in ticks collected from small ruminants in four districts [...] Read more.
Ticks play a pivotal role in propagating a diverse spectrum of infectious agents that detrimentally affect the health of both humans and animals. In the present study, a molecular survey was executed of piroplasmids in ticks collected from small ruminants in four districts within Konya province, Turkey. Microscopic examination identified 1281 adult ticks, which were categorized into 357 pools based on their species, sexes, host animals, and collection site before DNA extraction. The infection rates were calculated by using a maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Hyalomma detritum, H. excavatum, Rhipicephalus bursa, R. sanguineus, and R. turanicus were identified in this study. Among the five tick species identified here, R. turanicus exhibited the highest infestation rate in both goats and sheep. The presence of Babesia ovis and Theileria ovis based on 18S rRNA was confirmed using molecular assay. The overall MLE of infection rates for B. ovis and T. ovis was 2.49% (CI 1.72–3.46) and 1.46% (CI 0.87–2.23), respectively. The MLE of B. ovis and T. ovis infection rates in R. bursa was 10.80% (CI 7.43–14.90) and 0.33% (CI 0.02–1.42), respectively, while that in R. turanicus was 0.12% (CI 0.01–0.51) and 2.08% (CI 1.25–3.22). This study further confirms that R. turanicus and R. sanguineus can act as vectors for B. ovis, thus advancing our comprehension of tick-borne piroplasmids epidemiology and providing valuable insights for the development of effective control strategies for ticks and tick-borne diseases in Turkey. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Babesia and Babesiosis in Animals)
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11 pages, 1675 KiB  
Article
First Molecular Evidence of Babesia vogeli, Babesia vulpes, and Theileria ovis in Dogs from Kyrgyzstan
by Kursat Altay, Ufuk Erol, Omer Faruk Sahin, Mehmet Fatih Aydin, Ayperi Aytmirzakizi and Nazir Dumanli
Pathogens 2023, 12(8), 1046; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12081046 - 15 Aug 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1117
Abstract
Tick-borne parasitic diseases cause mild to severe infections among vertebrate hosts, including dogs. Species in the genus Babesia are important tick-borne pathogens and have worldwide distributions. Although there are data on the prevalence and distribution of Babesia species among dogs around the world, [...] Read more.
Tick-borne parasitic diseases cause mild to severe infections among vertebrate hosts, including dogs. Species in the genus Babesia are important tick-borne pathogens and have worldwide distributions. Although there are data on the prevalence and distribution of Babesia species among dogs around the world, there is no information available in Kyrgyzstan, according to a literature review. In this study, 337 dogs were screened by nested PCR for the presence of the 18S small subunit ribosomal RNA (18S SSU rRNA) gene of piroplasm species. Overall prevalence was 6.23% (21/337) for Babesia/Theileria spp. DNA sequencing of positively tested samples revealed that eighteen samples were infected with Babesia vogeli (B. vogeli) (5.34%), two samples with B. vulpes (0.59%), and one sample with Theileria ovis (T. ovis) (0.29%). The phylogenetic analyses and nucleotide sequences in contrast with those present in GenBank revealed that two nucleotide substitutions (594th and 627th) were found between B. vogeli isolates, including ours, indicating that the mutation is relatively rare. The sequences of other pathogens obtained in this study confirmed 100% nucleotide identity with B. vulpes and T. ovis sequences in GenBank. To the best of our knowledge, B. vogeli, B. vulpes, and T. ovis were detected for the first time in dogs from Kyrgyzstan, and it is thought that results will contribute to the understanding of the epidemiology of canine tick-borne pathogens in the country. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Babesia and Babesiosis in Animals)
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11 pages, 3257 KiB  
Article
Small Ruminant Piroplasmosis: High Prevalence of Babesia aktasi n. sp. in Goats in Türkiye
by Mehmet Can Ulucesme, Sezayi Ozubek, Aleyna Karoglu, Zeliha Irem Turk, Irem Olmus, Bunyamin Irehan and Munir Aktas
Pathogens 2023, 12(4), 514; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12040514 - 26 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1741
Abstract
Small ruminant piroplasmosis is the hemoparasitic infection of sheep and goats caused by Babesia and Theileria species responsible for clinical infections with high mortality outcomes. The disease is transmitted by ixodid ticks and prevalent in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, [...] Read more.
Small ruminant piroplasmosis is the hemoparasitic infection of sheep and goats caused by Babesia and Theileria species responsible for clinical infections with high mortality outcomes. The disease is transmitted by ixodid ticks and prevalent in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, including Türkiye. A prevalence survey, using molecular methods, is conducted in this study to determine the frequency of newly defined Babesia aktasi n. sp. and other tick-borne piroplasm species in small ruminants in Turkiye. A total of 640 blood samples from sheep (n = 137) and goats (n = 503) were analyzed by nested PCR-based reverse line blot (RLB) hybridization. The results show that 32.3% (207/640) of apparently healthy, small ruminants are infected with three Theileria and two Babesia species. Babesia aktasi n. sp. was the most prevalent species in goats, with 22.5% of samples being positive, followed by B. ovis (4%), T. ovis (2.8%), T. annulata (2.6%), and Theileria sp. (0.6%). None of the sheep samples were positive for Babesia aktasi n. sp.; however, 51.8% were infected with T. ovis. In conclusion, the findings reveal that B. aktasi n. sp. is highly prevalent in goats, but absent in sheep. In future studies, experimental infections will determine whether B. aktasi n. sp. is infectious to sheep, as well as its pathogenicity in small ruminants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Babesia and Babesiosis in Animals)
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