Abstract：
Piroplasmoses are tick-borne diseases caused by hemoprotozoan parasites of veterinary and public health significance. This study focuses on the molecular identification and characterization of species belonging to the Theileria/Babesia genera in 152 blood samples, collected from 80 horses and 72 cattle from several farms in Sardinia, by targeting the 18S rRNA gene. The PCR results highlighted that 72% of the samples were positive for Theileria/Babesia spp., with a rate of infection of 68% and 75% for the horses and cattle, respectively. Sequencing and the BLASTn analysis showed that the 18S rRNA generated in this study has 99-100% homology with the B. bigemina, T. orientalis/sergenti/buffeli, T. equi and T. annulata strains isolated from different hosts worldwide. These findings improve the knowledge on Babesia and Theileria infections in domestic mammals and confirm the significant prevalence of piroplasmosis among subclinical and carrier animals throughout the island. Furthermore, the presence of T. annulata, reported for the first time in the study area, expands the repertoire of pathogens already detected in Sardinia. Our results gather updates on the diversity and distribution of piroplasms in Sardinia and suggest the need to develop procedures to improve animal and public health safety.
摘要：
螺旋体是由兽医学和公共卫生意义上的嗜血原虫寄生虫引起的蜱传播疾病。这项研究的重点是152个血液样本中属于Theileria/Babesia属的物种的分子鉴定和表征，从撒丁岛几个农场的80匹马和72头牛中收集，通过靶向18SrRNA基因。PCR结果强调，72％的样品对Theileria/Babesiaspp呈阳性。,马和牛的感染率分别为68%和75%，分别。测序和BLASTn分析表明，本研究中产生的18SrRNA与双歧杆菌具有99-100％的同源性，T.Orientalis/sergenti/buffeli，从全球不同宿主中分离出的马氏T.equi和T.annulata菌株。这些发现提高了对家养哺乳动物的巴贝虫和Theileria感染的认识，并证实了全岛亚临床动物和携带者动物中吡虫虫病的患病率。此外，T.annulata的存在，在研究区域首次报道，扩大了在撒丁岛已经检测到的病原体。我们的研究结果收集了撒丁岛piromates多样性和分布的最新信息，并建议需要制定程序来改善动物和公共卫生安全。
