title: Status of babesiosis among domestic herbivores in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: Babesiosis is a protozoal disease caused by Babesia spp. in mammals and humans worldwide. It is one of the most important tick-borne diseases, which affects livestock productions, reproductions, and accordingly failing economy. In this, systematic review and meta-analysis, study, the prevalence of babesiosis among domestic herbivores in Iran, between 1998 and 2015, was methodically reviewed. Nine databases including five English and four Persian databases were explored. A total of 49 articles, as regards the examination of 13,547 sheep, 1920 goats, 7167 cattle, and 940 horses, corresponding to prevalence of babesiosis from different regions of Iran were gathered for our qualifying criteria. The overall prevalence of babesiosis was expected to be 14% (95% CI 12%, 16%) in domestic herbivores. Our results showed the highest prevalence in Khorasan Razavi (18.6%) and West Azarbaijan (15.2%) and the lowest in Mazandaran (8.8%) and Isfahan provinces (9.6%), respectively. The high prevalence of Babesia infection in herbivores (mostly sheep and goats) confirms the established enzootic situation of babesiosis in Iran, particularly in western and northeastern regions of the country. Our data offered important and updated information on the epidemiology of babesiosis, for the first time, in domestic herbivores in Iran, and will likely be contributing to the expansion of the screening and control strategies to reduce health and economic impacts among farm animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mousa Motavalli
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Haghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
authors.forename: Fariborz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Etemadifar
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Molecular and Cell Biology Research Center, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Farah-Abad Road, P.O. Box 48175-1665, Sari, Iran. mahdif53@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mahdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fakhar
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Development Center of Children Hospital, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeed Hosseini
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Teshnizi
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soosaraei
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Azar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shokri
authors.affiliation: Primer Diagnostic Veterinary Lab, Baneh, Kurdistan, Iran.
authors.forename: Atta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hajihasani
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamed
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mashhadi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic / Q000469:parasitology; D001403:Babesia; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002417:Cattle / Q000469:parasitology; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D006041:Goats / Q000469:parasitology; D060434:Herbivory; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D006736:Horses / Q000469:parasitology; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D058751:Livestock; D012756:Sheep / Q000469:parasitology; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D034561:Sheep, Domestic; D017282:Tick-Borne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology
keywords: Babesia spp.; Domestic herbivores; Epidemiology; Iran; Systematic review