Skotarczak B, Cichocka A
Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biology, Szczecin University, Piastow 40 B, 71-065 Szczecin, Poland.
Ann Agric Environ Med. 2001;8(2):187-9.
Babesia microti and B. divergens, the etiological agents of human babesiosis, are transmitted by the bite of Ixodes ricinus. The purpose of this study was differentiation of those two species in ticks collected in urban woods in the city Szczecin (north-western Poland). The prevalence of the DNA of Babesia were investigated by PCR amplification with primers to the fragment from a gene encoding the nuclear small-subunit ribosomal RNA (SS-rDNA). We examined a total of 533 specimens of Ixodes ricinus. The mean infection rate was 16.3%. Our results indicate that a B. microti and B. divergens--specific PCR test may provide a sensitive tool also for the laboratory diagnosis of human babesiosis.
微小巴贝斯虫和分歧巴贝斯虫是人类巴贝斯虫病的病原体，通过蓖麻硬蜱叮咬传播。本研究的目的是对在波兰西北部城市什切青的城市森林中采集的蜱虫中的这两个物种进行区分。通过使用针对编码核小亚基核糖体RNA（SS-rDNA）的基因片段的引物进行PCR扩增，研究了巴贝斯虫DNA的流行情况。我们共检查了533只蓖麻硬蜱标本。平均感染率为16.3%。我们的结果表明，微小巴贝斯虫和分歧巴贝斯虫特异性PCR检测也可能为人类巴贝斯虫病的实验室诊断提供一种灵敏的工具。
