Babesia microti-Like Parasites Detected in Feral Raccoons (Procyon lotor) Captured in Hokkaido, Japan

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Raccoons (Procyon lotor), which have recently become feral in Japan, were examined for the presence of Babesia microtilike parasites. Out of 372 raccoons captured in the west-central part of Hokkaido, 24 animals with splenomegaly were selected and tested by nested PCR targeting the babesial 18S rRNA gene. B. microti-like parasites were detected in two of the 24 individuals, and their DNA sequences were identical to that of the B. microti-like parasite reported from raccoons in the United States, suggesting that the parasites were probably imported into Japan and that the life cycle of the parasite has already been established in the country. The potential risk of this B. microti-like parasite spreading among dogs and foxes in Japan will need to be carefully monitored, as parasitization by phylogenetically very close parasites has been reported from such animals.

Babesia microti-Group Parasites Compared Phylogenetically by Complete Sequencing of the CCT.ETA. Gene in 36 Isolates

“…One isolate each from 2 ticks (I. ricinus) captured in Poland (Poland5, Poland6) and one each from 2 bank voles (C. glareolus) captured in the UK (UK5, UK6), donated by Marek Sawczuk and Bogumila Skotarczak (Szczecin University, Poland) and Mitsuhiko Asakawa (Rakuno Gakuen University, Japan), respectively, had a β-tubulin gene sequence identical to that of the Munich strain (GenBank accession number AB124587); hence, we included those 4 isolates in this analysis of the B. microti group. Other isolates were taken from raccoons and Eurasian red squirrels in Japan [15,37].…”

“…In 2006, 18S rDNA sequence of a European rodent isolate "Munich" (GenBank accession number AB071177) disclosed marked differences from the parasites reported in either the U.S. or Japan [11] but showed high similarity to isolates from rodents (M. arvalis and M. oeconomus) and ticks (Ixodes ricinus) captured in Poland [26,32]. Furthermore, novel genotypes distinct from those commonly distributed in feral rodents in the Holarctic region have been detected repeatedly in such carnivores as fox [8], skunk [8] and river otter [5] in the U.S., raccoons in Japan and the U.S. [8,15], and dogs in Spain (Theileria annae or B. annae) [6,42]. 18S rDNA analyses of these B. microti-group parasites have suggested a monophyletic nature of the B. microti "species" complex, leading to an increasingly large complex under the name B. microti [8,41].…”

Asymptomatic Babesia microti–like parasite infection in wild raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in South Korea

“…Babesia microti-infected ixodid ticks act as a vector for the parasite when they take blood from a host (Kjemtrup and Conrad, 2000). Several species of wild animals, such as raccoons (genus Procyon), red foxes (genus Vulpes), skunks (genus Mephitis), and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), are important for the survival and maintenance of ticks (Piesman et al, 1979;Wilson et al, 1988;Kawabuchi et al, 2005).…”

Identification and Phylogenetic Analysis of Japanese Macaque Babesia-1 (JM-1) detected from a Japanese Macaque (Macaca fuscata fuscata)

“…6 -9 Babesia microti -like parasites have recently been reported to infect various vertebrate hosts such as the raccoon, domestic dog, fox, squirrel, and rarely humans. [10][11][12][13][14] Natural infections with B . microti -like parasites have also been found in some species of nonhuman primates including the African baboon ( Papio cynocephalus ), cynomolgus macaque ( Macaca fascicularis ), rhesus macaque ( Macaca mulatta ), and cercopithecus monkey ( Cercopithecus pygerythrus ).…”

“…20,21 The 18S rRNA gene was amplified using Piro0F/Piro6R for the first-round PCR and Piro1F/ Piro 5.5R for nested PCR ( Table 1 ). 12 The β -tubulin gene was amplified using the primers TUBU-ATG5F/Tubu-1538R for the first-round PCR and Tubu-63F/Tubu-3R for nested PCR ( Table 1 ). The CCT7 gene was amplified using the primers TBCCT35F/TBCCTR0 for the first round, and TBCCT70F/ TBCCT1519R-3 for nested PCR ( Table 1 ).…”