CHINESE JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY AND PARASITIC DISEASES >

2026 , Vol. 44 >Issue 1: 79 - 84

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12140/j.issn.1000-7423.2026.01.012

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Epidemiological characteristics and genetic evolutionary analysis of tick-borne piroplasm in selected areas of northwestern China

  • XIAO Fangyu ,
  • LUO Jin ,
  • DUAN Deyong ,
  • ZHU Yanmin ,
  • DIAO Peiwen ,
  • HUANG Weixia ,
  • ZHANG Yu ,
  • WANG Junhong ,
  • REN Qiaoyun ,
  • GUAN Guiquan ,
  • YIN Hong ,
  • LIU Guangyuan
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  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730046, Gansu, China
    2 College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, Hunan, China
    3 College of Veterinary Medicine, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, Gansu, China
    4 Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for the Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Disease and Zoonosis， Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, China

Received date: 2025-08-03

  Revised date: 2026-01-05

  Online published: 2026-02-26

Supported by

Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province(25JRRA437);Lanzhou Chengguan District Science and Technology Support Program-Agriculture(2025KJZC00013);National Parasite Resource Bank Project(NPRC-2019-194-30)

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Abstract

Objective To investigate the epidemiological characteristics and genetic evolutionary relationships of piroplasm in ticks in selected areas of northwestern China. Methods Ticks infesting the livestock body surface were collected from Zhangjiachuan County, Zhuanglang County, Chengxian County, Wenxian County in Longnan City in Gansu Province, Changwu County in Shaanxi Province, Datong County in Qinghai Province, and the Ili River Valley in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang from March 2023 to May 2024, and tick species were identified morphologically using a stereomicroscope. Genomic DNA was extracted from ticks, and the 18S rRNA gene of piroplasm was amplified using nested PCR assay. Positive amplification products were sequenced, followed by sequence alignment analysis with the BLAST software. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using the neighbor-joining method with the software MEGA 11. Results A total of 1 579 ticks infesting livestock were collected and 1 559 ticks were detected, with Haemaphysalis longicornis as dominant tick species in Gansu and Shaanxi, Ixodes persulcatus in Qinghai, and Hyalomma asiaticum and Dermacentor nuttalli in Xinjiang. Nested PCR assay detected that the overall prevalence of piroplasm infection was 42.78% (667/1 559), with 47.81% (319/601) prevalence in Gansu, 30.03% (103/343) in Shaanxi, 10.71% (15/140) in Qinghai, and 48.42% (230/475) in Xinjiang. Sequencing identified six piroplasm species, including Babesia ovata, B. bigemina, B. microti, Theileria luwenshuni, T. uilenbergi, and T. orientalis, with T. orientalis, T. uilenbergi, and T. luwenshuni as dominant species in Gansu, B. microti in Qinghai, T. luwenshuni in Shaanxi, and T. orientalis, B. ovata, and B. bigemina in Xinjiang. Phylogenetic analysis showed that T. luwenshuni from Shaanxi were clustered into the same clade with the Shaanxi strain (GenBank accession number: MG930119) and Guizhou Dushan strain (GenBank accession number: KC735145), while T. orientalis from Zhangjiachuan were clustered into the same clade with the Thailand strain (GenBank accession number: MG757653) and a domestic strain (GenBank accession number: OM756747). Conclusion The prevalence of tick-borne piroplasm infection is high in northwestern China, and the dominant piroplasm species varies significantly in geographical regions.

Key words： Tick; Piroplasm; Theileria; Epidemiology

Cite this article

XIAO Fangyu , LUO Jin , DUAN Deyong , ZHU Yanmin , DIAO Peiwen , HUANG Weixia , ZHANG Yu , WANG Junhong , REN Qiaoyun , GUAN Guiquan , YIN Hong , LIU Guangyuan . Epidemiological characteristics and genetic evolutionary analysis of tick-borne piroplasm in selected areas of northwestern China[J]. CHINESE JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY AND PARASITIC DISEASES, 2026 , 44(1) : 79 -84 . DOI: 10.12140/j.issn.1000-7423.2026.01.012

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