Co-Occurrence of Sensu Lato and spp. DNA in Ticks Collected from Vegetation and Pets in the City of Poznań, Poland.

Here, we described the prevalence of s.l. and species found in mono- and double infections among ticks occurring in urban areas of the city of Poznań, Poland. We tested 1029 host-seeking ticks and 1268 engorged ticks removed from pet animals. and prevailed both in ticks from vegetation (3.7% and 3.7%, respectively) and from pets (3.7% and 0.6%, respectively). and were the most prevalent in host-seeking (2.6% and 1.4%, respectively) and feeding ticks (2.8% and 2.2%, respectively). sequences proved to be identical to the human pathogenic genotype "Jena/Germany". Sequences of the rarest piroplasm (0.7%) were identical with those isolated from European patients. About 1.0% of tested ticks yielded dual infections; in host-seeking ticks, prevailed in co-infections with and , whereas and dominated in double-infected feeding ticks. Dual infections, even with a low prevalence, pose a challenge for differential diagnosis in patients with acute febrile disease after a tick bite. The finding of in both tick groups suggests that could be involved in the circulation of this piroplasm.