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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2008, p. 4841-4846, Vol. 74, No. 15
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00035-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Babesia Species Occurring in Austrian Ixodes ricinus Ticks{triangledown}

Marion Blaschitz,1,2 Melanie Narodoslavsky-Gföller,1 Michaela Kanzler,1 Gerold Stanek,1 and Julia Walochnik2*

Division of Infection and Immunology,1 Division of Medical Parasitology, Department of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15, 1095 Vienna, Austria2

Received 5 January 2008/ Accepted 25 May 2008

Babesiosis is a tick-transmitted disease of veterinary and medical importance. The first Austrian case of human babesiosis was recently recorded. In the current study, ticks at all life cycle stages (instars), including 853 Ixodes ricinus and 11 Haemaphysalis concinna ticks, from sampling sites throughout Austria were examined for the presence of Babesia spp. by using 18S rRNA gene PCR and sequencing, and the overall mean infection rate was 51.04%. The infection rates for sampling sites were highly variable, ranging from 0% to almost 100%. Different instars and different sexes were infected almost equally. Babesia isolates occurring in Austrian ticks were identified as Babesia divergens, Babesia divergens-like, and Babesia sp. strain DD by sequencing a fragment of the heat shock protein 70 gene and internal transcribed spacer regions 1 and 2. To our knowledge, this is the first investigation of Babesia spp. in Austrian ticks.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of Medical Parasitology, Department of Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, Medical University of Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15, 1095 Vienna, Austria. Phone: 43-1-40490-79446. Fax: 43-1-40490-79435. E-mail: julia.walochnik{at}meduniwien.ac.at

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 6 June 2008.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2008, p. 4841-4846, Vol. 74, No. 15
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00035-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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