{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T11:21:45Z","timestamp":1785410505361,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":96,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,2]],"date-time":"2026-04-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1775088000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005357","name":"Slovak Research and Development Agency","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["APVV 22-0372"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["APVV 22-0372"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005357","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["APVV 22-0372"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["APVV 22-0372"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/037nx0e70","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003193","name":"Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2\/0083\/25"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2\/0083\/25"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003193","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003193","name":"Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2\/0092\/26"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2\/0092\/26"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003193","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["2\/0083\/25"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2\/0083\/25"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/044gwpv05","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["2\/0092\/26"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2\/0092\/26"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/044gwpv05","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Among the 24 tick species documented in Slovakia, Ixodes ricinus is the most widespread and abundant. In some sites, 2\u20135 epidemiologically important tick species co-occur. Such sites represent hotspots for studying the co-circulation of tick-borne pathogens. Sympatric occurrence of five exophilic species (I. ricinus, Dermacentor reticulatus, D. marginatus, Haemaphysalis concinna, and H. inermis) was confirmed in the environs of the \u017demberovce village (Levice region, south-western Slovakia). Here, the seasonal activity and abundance of questing ticks and the tick infestation of game and sheep were investigated. Questing ticks, spleens of game, and ticks removed from game and sheep were examined for the presence of tick-borne pathogens (Babesia spp., Theileria spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Rickettsia spp., Borrelia burgdorferi s.l., and Borrelia miyamotoi) by molecular methods. Among the questing ticks, I. ricinus prevailed. Presence of Babesia crassa, B. microti, Rickettsia helvetica, R. raoultii, A. phagocytophilum, Borrelia afzelii, B. garinii, B. valaisiana, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto and B. miyamotoi was detected. Dermacentor marginatus, I. ricinus and H. concinna were collected from sheep. They were infected with A. phagocytophilum, A. ovis, R. slovaca, and R. raoultii. Anaplasma phagocytophilum was detected in all examined red deer and roe deer and in 55.6% of wild boar. All cervids were positive for Theileria spp. Infestation of game with all five tick species, with a predominance of I. ricinus, was confirmed. In these ticks, A. phagocytophilum, R. helvetica, R. raoultii, Babesia sp. hc-hlj212, B. crassa, B. microti, Babesia spp. and B. miyamotoi were detected. This study confirmed the presence of B. crassa in Slovakia for the first time. The investigated area, with the co-occurrence of five exophilic tick species and a wide spectrum of tick-borne pathogens, represents an epidemiologically important hotspot with the risk of infections of humans and domestic animals.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens15040382","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,2]],"date-time":"2026-04-02T11:51:03Z","timestamp":1775130663000},"page":"382","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Sympatric Occurrence of Five Exophilic Tick Species in the Levice Region (Southwestern Slovakia) and Their Infection with Tick-Borne Pathogens"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-5371-4133","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sl\u00e1vka","family":"Purgatov\u00e1","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4386-0812","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Barbara","family":"Mangov\u00e1","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3949-2463","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Diana","family":"Selyemov\u00e1","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2246-6533","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zuzana","family":"Krump\u00e1lov\u00e1","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ecology and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Informatics, Constantine the Philosopher University, 94901 Nitra, Slovakia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9548-1905","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michal","family":"Chvost\u00e1\u010d","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0762-6511","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yuliya M.","family":"Didyk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia"},{"name":"I.I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology NAS of Ukraine, 01054 Kyiv, Ukraine"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-0586-0194","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Petra","family":"Rajsk\u00e1","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6904-8342","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"M\u00e1ria","family":"Kazim\u00edrov\u00e1","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4316-9186","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Veronika","family":"Rus\u0148\u00e1kov\u00e1 Tarage\u013eov\u00e1","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"593232","DOI":"10.1155\/2009\/593232","article-title":"Effects of climate change on ticks and tick-borne diseases in Europe","volume":"2009","author":"Gray","year":"2009","journal-title":"Interdiscip. 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