Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2002 Jul;8(7):722-6.
doi: 10.3201/eid0807.010459.

Entomologic and serologic evidence of zoonotic transmission of Babesia microti, eastern Switzerland

Ivo M Foppa  1 , Peter J Krause, Andrew Spielman, Heidi Goethert, Lise Gern, Brigit Brand, Sam R Telford 3rd
Affiliations

Entomologic and serologic evidence of zoonotic transmission of Babesia microti, eastern Switzerland

Ivo M Foppa et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2002 Jul.

Abstract

We evaluated human risk for infection with Babesia microti at a site in eastern Switzerland where several B. microti-infected nymphal Ixodes ricinus ticks had been found. DNA from pooled nymphal ticks amplified by polymerase chain reaction was highly homologous to published B. microti sequences. More ticks carried babesial infection in the lower portion of the rectangular 0.7-ha grid than in the upper (11% vs. 0.8%). In addition, we measured seroprevalence of immunoglobulin (Ig) G antibodies against B. microti antigen in nearby residents. Serum from 1.5% of the 396 human residents of the region reacted to B. microti antigen (>1:64), as determined by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IgG). These observations constitute the first report demonstrating B. microti in a human-biting vector, associated with evidence of human exposure to this agent in a European site.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic drawing of the sampling scheme. Distance between sampling points is 30 m. The letters and solid arrows denote the sections used for prevalence estimation. Sampling lines that connect points not belonging to a section are not included in that section (e.g., line B4–C2 is not part of section B).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Maximum parsimony bootstrap consensus tree of 18S rDNA. GenBank accession nos.: Babesia microti-Slovenia AF373332; B. microti-Switzerland AF494286; B. microti- Nantucket AF231348; "Toxoplasma annae" AF188001; B. rodhaini AB049999; WA1 AF158700; B. gibsoni 1 AF158702; B. divergens 1 U07885; B. divergens 2 U16370; B. odocoilei U16369; B. gibsoni 2 AF175300; B. gibsoni 3 AF175301; and Toxoplasma gondii X68523.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Spielman A. Human babesiosis on Nantucket Island: transmission by nymphal Ixodes ticks. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1976;25:784–7. - PubMed
    1. Spielman A. The emergence of Lyme disease and human babesiosis in a changing environment. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1994;740:146–56. 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1994.tb19865.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sebek Z, Rosicky B, Sixl W. The occurrence of babesiasis affecting small terrestrial mammals and the importance of this zoonosis in Europe. Folia Parasitol (Praha). 1977;24:221–8. - PubMed
    1. Telford SR, Gorenflot A, Brasseur P, Spielman A. Babesial infections in humans and wildlife. In: Kreier JP, editor. Parasitic protozoa. Vol. 5. New York: Academic Press; 1993. p. 1–47.
    1. Walter G. Isolierung von Babesia microti (Franca 1912) aus freilebenden Nymphen von Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus 1758). Acta Trop. 1981;38:187–8. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Associated data

LinkOut - more resources