Germany-wide citizen science study reveals spread of Babesia canis-infected Dermacentor reticulatus ticks by dogs travelling within the country

Endemisation and management of Babesia divergens on a beef production farm

“…However, as the study primarily targeted B. divergens , only primers amplifying members of the Babesia sensu stricto and the so-called Western clade were included ( Qurollo et al, 2017 ), while specific primers for B. microti and B. microti -like organisms were not contained in the reaction setup, precluding their detection in the present study. Following qPCR, positive samples were confirmed by amplification and sequencing of the 18S rDNA, as false positives due to cross-reactions with tick DNA have been observed ( this issue: Springer et al, 2024 ). In most cases, a semi-nested protocol was necessary to generate a visible amplicon.…”