Sheep as Host Species for Zoonotic Babesia venatorum, United Kingdom

• Published in: Emerging infectious diseases Vol. 25; no. 12; pp. 2257 - 2260
• Main Authors: Gray, Alexander, Capewell, Paul, Loney, Colin, Katzer, Frank, Shiels, Brian R, Weir, William
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases 01-12-2019; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Subjects: Agricultural policy; Animals; babesia; Babesia - classification; Babesia - genetics; Babesiosis; Babesiosis - epidemiology; Babesiosis - parasitology; Beef cattle; cattle; Disease transmission; Diseases; Dispatch; Host Specificity; Infection; Livestock; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Public health; Public health movements; Public Health Surveillance; Resveratrol; RNA, Protozoan; RNA, Ribosomal, 18S - genetics; Sheep; Sheep as Host Species for Zoonotic; Surgery; Tick-borne diseases; tickborne diseases; United Kingdom; United Kingdom - epidemiology; Zoonoses; Zoonoses - epidemiology; Zoonoses - parasitology; United Kingdom; deer; babesia; Scotland; United Kingdom; parasites; tickborne diseases; zoonoses; cattle; babesiosis; vectorborne infections; Babesia venatorum; sheep
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059
• DOI: 10.3201/eid2512.190459

Babesia venatorum is an increasingly prominent zoonotic parasite that predominantly infects wild deer. Our molecular examination of Babesia infecting mammals in the United Kingdom identified 18S sequences in domestic sheep isolates identical to zoonotic B. venatorum. Identification of this parasite in livestock raises concerns for public health and farming policy in Europe.