Department of Eco-Epidemiology of Parasitic Diseases, Institute of Developmental Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Miecznikowa 1, 02-096, Warsaw, Poland.
Parasit Vectors. 2021 Sep 28;14(1):507. doi: 10.1186/s13071-021-05019-3.
Babesia spp. are protozoan parasites of great medical and veterinary importance, especially in the northern Hemisphere. Ticks are known vectors of Babesia spp., although some Babesia-tick interactions have not been fully elucidated.
The present review was performed to investigate the specificity of Babesia-tick species interactions that have been identified using molecular techniques in studies conducted in the last 20 years under field conditions. We aimed to indicate the main vectors of important Babesia species based on published research papers (n = 129) and molecular data derived from the GenBank database.
Repeated observations of certain Babesia species in specific species and genera of ticks in numerous independent studies, carried out in different areas and years, have been considered epidemiological evidence of established Babesia-tick interactions. The best studied species of ticks are Ixodes ricinus, Dermacentor reticulatus and Ixodes scapularis (103 reports, i.e. 80% of total reports). Eco-epidemiological studies have confirmed a specific relationship between Babesia microti and Ixodes ricinus, Ixodes persulcatus, and Ixodes scapularis and also between Babesia canis and D. reticulatus. Additionally, four Babesia species (and one genotype), which have different deer species as reservoir hosts, displayed specificity to the I. ricinus complex. Eco-epidemiological studies do not support interactions between a high number of Babesia spp. and I. ricinus or D. reticulatus. Interestingly, pioneering studies on other species and genera of ticks have revealed the existence of likely new Babesia species, which need more scientific attention. Finally, we discuss the detection of Babesia spp. in feeding ticks and critically evaluate the data on the role of the latter as vectors.
Epidemiological data have confirmed the specificity of certain Babesia-tick vector interactions. The massive amount of data that has been thus far collected for the most common tick species needs to be complemented by more intensive studies on Babesia infections in underrepresented tick species.
巴贝虫属是原生动物寄生虫，具有重要的医学和兽医学意义，尤其是在北半球。蜱是巴贝虫属的已知传播媒介，尽管一些巴贝虫-蜱相互作用尚未完全阐明。
本综述旨在调查过去 20 年在野外条件下使用分子技术进行的研究中已确定的巴贝虫-蜱种相互作用的特异性。我们旨在根据已发表的研究论文（n=129）和源自 GenBank 数据库的分子数据，指出重要巴贝虫物种的主要传播媒介。
在不同地区和年份进行的许多独立研究中，对特定蜱种和属中的某些巴贝虫物种进行了反复观察，这被认为是已建立的巴贝虫-蜱相互作用的流行病学证据。研究最多的蜱种是蓖子硬蜱、血红扇头蜱和肩突硬蜱（103 份报告，即总报告的 80%）。生态流行病学研究证实了微小巴贝虫与蓖子硬蜱、扇头蜱和肩突硬蜱以及犬巴贝虫与血红扇头蜱之间的特定关系。此外，四种巴贝虫物种（和一种基因型），它们具有不同的鹿种作为储存宿主，与蓖子硬蜱复合体具有特异性。生态流行病学研究不支持大量巴贝虫属与蓖子硬蜱或血红扇头蜱之间的相互作用。有趣的是，对其他蜱种和属的开创性研究揭示了可能存在新的巴贝虫物种，这需要更多的科学关注。最后，我们讨论了在取食蜱中检测巴贝虫属的情况，并批判性地评估了后者作为传播媒介的数据。
流行病学数据证实了某些巴贝虫-蜱传播媒介相互作用的特异性。迄今为止，为最常见的蜱种收集的大量数据需要通过对代表性不足的蜱种中的巴贝虫感染进行更深入的研究来补充。
