{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,25]],"date-time":"2026-06-25T08:48:04Z","timestamp":1782377284239,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,25]],"date-time":"2026-06-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782345600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Vet. Sci."],"abstract":"\n Background<\/jats:title>\n \n Babesiosis is a globally relevant tick-borne disease affecting both animals and humans. However, data on\n Babesia<\/jats:italic>\n spp. in companion animals remain limited in Changsha, a rapidly urbanizing city in central China with high human\u2013animal contact. This study addresses this gap by characterizing the prevalence and genetic diversity of\n Babesia<\/jats:italic>\n spp. in local dogs and cats, providing insights into urban transmission dynamics and the public health relevance of\n B. microti<\/jats:italic>\n detection in companion animals.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n \n A total of 1,258 blood samples from dogs and cats were collected in Changsha between 2021 and 2022.\n Babesia<\/jats:italic>\n spp. were detected by nested PCR targeting the\n SSU rRNA<\/jats:italic>\n gene, and phylogenetic and haplotype analyses were performed to assess genetic diversity and sequence relatedness among the identified isolates.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n Babesia<\/jats:italic>\n spp. were detected in 4.85% (61\/1,258) of the samples, with infection rates of 5.19% in cats and 4.24% in dogs.\n B. gibsoni<\/jats:italic>\n was the predominant species in both hosts, and phylogenetic analysis showed high sequence similarity to Asian canine strains. A total of 19\n B. gibsoni<\/jats:italic>\n haplotypes were identified, with Hap_1 being the most prevalent and distributed across multiple provinces. In addition,\n B. microti<\/jats:italic>\n was detected in feline blood samples for the first time in China. These sequences clustered with tick-derived strains from the United States, and six haplotypes were identified, including Hap_4, a lineage previously reported in humans and ticks.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n \n This study presents the first molecular evidence of\n B. microti<\/jats:italic>\n infection in pet cats in China, alongside the detection of\n B. gibsoni<\/jats:italic>\n in both dogs and cats with notable haplotype diversity. The seasonal variation in infection rates, particularly the increase in autumn, suggests a potential influence of seasonal tick activity on transmission dynamics. These findings underscore the epidemiological relevance of companion animals in urban tick-borne piroplasm surveillance and support further investigation of local tick vectors and reservoir hosts, particularly in relation to the potential public health relevance of\n B. microti<\/jats:italic>\n .\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fvets.2026.1862561","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,25]],"date-time":"2026-06-25T08:07:34Z","timestamp":1782374854000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Urban surveillance of Babesia spp. in dogs and cats: molecular evidence from Changsha, China"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Jingwei","family":"Quan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University","place":["Hohhot, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ziran","family":"Mo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University","place":["Hohhot, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xingyu","family":"Ruan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University","place":["Hohhot, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xu","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University","place":["Hohhot, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Junyan","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural & Animal Husbandry Sciences","place":["Hohhot, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaoping","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural & Animal Husbandry Sciences","place":["Hohhot, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jia","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University","place":["Hohhot, China"]},{"name":"Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Minzu University","place":["Tongliao, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wenbin","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University","place":["Hohhot, China"]},{"name":"Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Inner Mongolia University","place":["Hohhot, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University","place":["Hohhot, China"]},{"name":"Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Inner Mongolia University","place":["Hohhot, China"]},{"name":"National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology of China Ministry of Health, WHO Collaborating Centre for Tropical Diseases, Joint Research Laboratory of Genetics and Ecology on Parasite-Host Interaction, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Fudan University","place":["Shanghai, China"]},{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1141","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cvsm.2010.08.001","article-title":"Canine babesiosis","volume":"40","author":"Irwin","year":"2010","journal-title":"Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"156","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vetpar.2007.06.003","article-title":"Detection of Theileria and Babesia species in ticks collected from cattle","volume":"148","author":"Ica","year":"2007","journal-title":"Vet Parasitol."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"189","DOI":"10.1016\/S0304-4017(03)00078-5","article-title":"Molecular studies on Babesia, Theileria and Hepatozoon in southern Europe: part I","volume":"113","author":"Criado-Fornelio","year":"2003","journal-title":"epizootiological aspects. 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