Introduction

Babesiosis is an emerging infectious disease in Europe. From a historical perspective, babesiosis has been well-described as a dangerous, potentially lethal, tick-borne disease of dogs and cattle, contributing to marked financial losses in the cattle industry. In present times, the number of human cases has been growing, especially in the US, Canada and China.

Methods

We conducted a review to summarize recent findings on the occurrence and incidence of babesiosis in South-Eastern, Central and North-Eastern Europe (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Austria, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Island, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway) in humans, cats, dogs, horses and cattle.

Results

Babesia infections are widespread in the presented area. Cases of human babesiosis are still rare, but the incidence may be expected to increase in the coming years. Canine babesiosis due to Babesia canis is emerging in new areas, while cats are very rarely affected. Among piroplasms in horses, Theileria equi is increasingly detected. Bovine babesiosis has a re-emerging potential.

Conclusions

The results of the review show knowledge gaps but also provide a general overview of the current situation and recent changes in relation to potential vector ticks and animal movements. The situation should be monitored carefully, in both the ticks and the hosts, following a One Health approach.

Abstract Body

Toxoplasma gondii is an important zoonotic parasite, which infects up to one third of the global human population, and can cause toxoplasmosis in both humans and animals.

In Europe and North America, archetypal types of T. gondii prevail: type II dominates, followed by type III and X (HG12). Type I strains, highly virulent in laboratory mice, are rarely observed. Toxoplasma gondii of types II and III are often but not always only moderately virulent for mice. In other parts of the world, in particular in South America, further non-archetypal genotypes of T. gondii exist, with higher virulence for humans.

Although a number of parasite proteins have been identified to explain differences in virulence for mice, it seems to be difficult to infer from genotype to virulence for natural intermediate hosts, including humans.

The presentations of this symposium provide an overview on the state of the art of genotyping of T. gondii and of evaluating virulence of T. gondii and on the newest advancements in our knowledge on genotypes and genotypically defined populations identified worldwide, and discuss to which extent genotyping can help to understand virulence and infection epidemiology.

Future perspectives and needs, with focus on harmonised procedures and international collaborations, are discussed in a final round table after the presentations.

This symposium is organised as part of the activities of TOXOSOURCES, a consortium supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under grant agreement No 773830.