Folia Parasitologica 70:005 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.005

Evidence of transplacental transmission of equine piroplasms Theileria equi and Babesia caballi in an Italian breed mare

Leticia E. Bartolomé del Pino ORCID...1, Aranzazu Meana1, Maurizio Zini2, Antonella Cersini2
1 Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Animal Health, Madrid, Spain;
2 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana "M. Aleandri", Rome, Italy

Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a vector borne disease caused by apicomplexans protists Babesia caballi (Nuttal et Strickland, 1910) and Theileria equi (Laveran, 1901). Carrier mares may transmit the infection transplacental resulting in neonatal piroplasmosis or abortions. This event has been described for T. equi by several authors over the world, but no evidence for B. caballi has been reported in Europe. In this study, vertical transmission for both parasites in an Italian breed mare has been confirmed using molecular and microscopic tools. Transplacental transmission is an underestimated problem mainly in endemic areas as it not only contributes to the spread and maintenance of the infection, but also produces significant economic losses.

Keywords: abortions, vertical transmission, serological assays, polymerase chain reaction

Received: October 5, 2021; Revised: July 7, 2022; Accepted: November 11, 2022; Published online: February 10, 2023  Show citation

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Bartolomé del Pino, L.E., Meana, A., Zini, M., & Cersini, A. (2023). Evidence of transplacental transmission of equine piroplasms Theileria equi and Babesia caballi in an Italian breed mare. Folia Parasitologica, 70, Article 2023.005. https://doi.org/10.14411/fp.2023.005
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