Wild ungulates as Babesia hosts in Northern and central Italy

Babesia and Theileria species were investigated in wild ungulates of Northern and Central Italy. Of 355 blood samples examined, 108 (30.4%) were positive to molecular diagnostics (polymerase chain reaction [PCR] with specific primers and sequencing). The sequence analysis showed that the roe deer is a susceptible host for several piroplasms belonging both to Babesia (31%) and Theileria (14.2%) species, whereas fallow deer and wild boar harbor only Theileria species (49% and 2.6%, respectively). Strains related to B. divergens are highly present (28.3%) in the roe deer, which, however, also harbors Babesia MO1 type and Babesia microti-like organisms. Babesia EU1 type is described for the first time in a roe deer in Italy. The finding in roe deer of Babesia species involved in human babesiosis is of concern for public health, mainly because ecological changes in progress cause the increase of both the deer species and the vector tick populations.