Serologic Evidence for Babesia bigemina Infection in Wild Yak (Bos mutus) in Qinghai Province, China.
Piroplasmosis, caused by tick-borne protozoan parasites of the genera Theileria and Babesia, is one of the most economically important infections of domestic ruminants in China. We evaluated the prevalence of antibodies to Babesia bigemina in wild yaks (Bos mutus) from Qinghai Province, China. Of 91 samples, 24% had detectable B. bigemina antibodies, and significant differences in prevalence were observed between those older than 5 yr and those younger than 5 yr. We collected 1,679 ticks belonging to two Ixodid genera from the infested wild yaks. The most prevalent tick species was Dermacentor nuttalli (48.1%), followed by Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis (33.3%) and Dermacentor silvarum (18.6%). These results indicated that B. bigemina is most likely endemic in the study area, and active surveillance programs for piroplasmosis are needed for monitoring animal health status.
1  College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, PR China.|2  College of Agriculture and Animal Science, Qinghai University, Xining, Qinghai 810016, PR China.
Ying
Y
Li
3  National Research Center for Wildlife Borne Diseases, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, PR China.
Pengpeng
P
Liu
3  National Research Center for Wildlife Borne Diseases, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, PR China.
Chengmin
C
Wang
2  College of Agriculture and Animal Science, Qinghai University, Xining, Qinghai 810016, PR China.
Gang
G
Chen
2  College of Agriculture and Animal Science, Qinghai University, Xining, Qinghai 810016, PR China.
Ming
M
Kang
2  College of Agriculture and Animal Science, Qinghai University, Xining, Qinghai 810016, PR China.
Daoxin
D
Liu
2  College of Agriculture and Animal Science, Qinghai University, Xining, Qinghai 810016, PR China.
Zengkui
Z
Li
3  National Research Center for Wildlife Borne Diseases, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, PR China.
Hongxuan
H
He
4  Department of Medical Oncology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310009, China.
Ying
Y
Dong
1  College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, PR China.
Yanming
Y
Zhang
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D001403:Babesia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D002417:Cattle; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000662:veterinary*
D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan
Babesia bigemina; serology; ticks; wild yaks