Development of Strategies to Control Tick-borne Babesial Pathogens of Livestock

Protozoan parasites transmitted by ticks remain the major concern and challenge for the livestock industries.

Due to the lack of control strategies, tick-borne pathogens cause significant economic losses for cattle industry as well as for the horse industry.

Parasites are inoculated into nave animals via tick saliva and cause acute disease and, in some cases, animals succumb with high parasitemia. Animals that survive acute disease are persistently infected and are reservoirs for tick transmission.

Understanding infection prevalence/incidence of mammalian hosts and infection of ticks is critical for the development of efficient strategies to control pathogen spread.