Wild deer in the United Kingdom are a potential reservoir for the livestock parasite Babesia divergens.

ABSTRACT: Redwater fever is an economically important disease of cattle in the United Kingdom caused by the protozoan parasite Babesia divergens. Control efforts are dependent on accurate local historic knowledge of disease occurrence, together with an accurate appreciation of current underlying risk factors. Importantly, the involvement of red deer in the transmission of this pathogen in the UK remains unclear. We employed a polymerase chain reaction approach combined with DNA sequencing to investigate Babesia infections in livestock and red deer at a UK farm with a history of tick-borne disease. This revealed several B. divergens-infected cattle that were not displaying overt clinical signs. Additionally, 11% of red deer on the farmland and surrounding areas were infected with

SUBMITTER: Gray A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8906096 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature