Detections of Babesia odocoilei in Ixodes pacificus and Babesia microti in Ixodes angustus Ticks in British Columbia,Canada

Abstract

Background:

Surveillance of tick-borne pathogens is important to inform risks to human and animal health. Through active surveillance, we have detected the continued presence of both Babesia odocoilei since its first detection in 2019 and Babesia microti in British Columbia (BC).

Materials and Methods:

Tick drag sampling was conducted across four regions of the province using a protocol developed by the Canadian Lyme Sentinel Network. Captured ticks were identified morphologically, and pathogens were tested for Borrelia species, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia species, and Powassan virus.

Results:

B. odocoilei was detected in four Ixodes pacificus nymphs, and B. microti was detected in two Ixodes angustus ticks (1 nymph and 1 female).

Conclusions:

B. odocoilei and B. microti continue to be detected in BC ticks. Ongoing surveillance and monitoring of tick populations in BC is essential to characterize the emergence and spread of tick-borne pathogens in the province.

Keywords

babesiosis CaLSeN CLyDRN sampling surveillance tick-borne pathogens ticks vector vector surveillance western blacklegged tick

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Eshoo

, Carolan

, Massire

, et al. Survey of Ixodes pacificus ticks in california reveals a diversity of microorganisms and a novel and widespread anaplasmataceae species. PLoS One, 2015; 10(9):e0135828; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0135828

Fay

, Rausch

. Parasitic organisms in the blood arvicoline rodents in Alaska. J. Parasitology, 1969; 55(6):1258–1265.

Guillot

, Badcock

, Clow

, et al. Sentinel surveillance of Lyme disease risk in Canada, 2019: Results from the first year of the Canadian Lyme Sentinel Network (CaLSeN). Can Commun Dis Rep, 2020; 46(10):354–361; doi: 10.14745/ccdr.v46i10a08

Guillot

, Pelletier

, Aenishaenslin

, et al. The distribution of Babesia odocoilei in Ixodes species ticks in Canada: Implications for one health surveillance. Ticks Tick Borne Dis, 2024; 15(6):102413; doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2024.102413

Lindquist

, Galloway

, Artsob

, et al. A Handbook to the Ticks of Canada (Ixodida: Ixodidae, Argasidae). Biological Survey of Canada Monograph Series No. 7: 2016.

Mathieu

, Pastor

, Berkvens

, et al. Babesia odocoilei as a cause of mortality in captive cervids in Canada. Can Vet J, 2018; 59(1):52–58.

Milnes

, Thornton

, Leveille

, et al. Babesia odocoilei and zoonotic pathogens identified from Ixodes scapularis ticks in southern Ontario, Canada. Ticks Tick Borne Dis, 2019; 10(3):670–676; doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2019.02.016

Washington State Department of Health. 2022 Communicable Disease Report. 2024. Available from: https://doh.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2024-01/420-004-CDAnnualReport2022.pdf [Last accessed: August 5, 2024].

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.02 MB

0.00 MB