Babesia sp. EU1 from Roe Deer and Transmission within Ixodes ricinus

We report in vitro culture of zoonotic Babesia sp. EU1 from blood samples of roe deer in France. This study provides evidence of transovarial and transstadial transmission of the parasite within Ixodes ricinus, which suggests that this tick could be a vector and reservoir of EU1

Going online and maintaining the multi-professional team approach

Background: – The Covid-19 pandemic limited health professionals meeting directly with families, as well as limiting sharing within families – Since then, the multi-professional team of the Family Systems Care Unit has also been meeting with families online, while conducting face-to-face online supervision for health professionals Challenges: – Lack ofbody-to-body interaction (Turkle, 2020) – Feelings of frustration or shame when digital literacy is lacking (Rohr, 2020) – Setting must be prepared: stable internet-connection, end-to-end key-software (Weinberg, H., 2020) – An informed consent clarifies the rights and obligations during the interview and for the recording Opportunities: – The families' experiences can later benefit teaching and research – Range extension, no travel time – Mutual support in dealing with digital skills across generations – Disturbances must be addressed and relation to current dynamics of the group support all members (Rohr, N., 2022) – Family clinicians benefits from their support team – Collective waiting rooms before and at the end of a session offer all participants the opportunity to arrive in time before and allow for farewell afterwards Discussion: – Further research on family care online conversations is necessary, on specific elements of online group sessions, such as building cohesion and therapeutic presence online, and into how the working partnership and cohesion are formed in online groups compared to face-to-face groups Conclusion: – The combination of online family conversation and simultaneous online live supervision enablespositive outcomesforfamilies and the team – Online pre-and post-sessions and the team's background presence support the counsellor and enable high-level family conversations – Online family conversations and team collaboration are effective when pace and communication style are adapted to the online setting (Rohr, N., 2022) – Alleviating suffering is possible by creating a context for change (Wright & Bell, 2021) – Despitegeographical and physical distance familiescan speak about difficult topics with professional suppor

Natural Transmission of Zoonotic Babesia spp. by Ixodes ricinus Ticks

To determine characteristics of natural transmission of Babesia sp. EU1 and B. divergens by adult Ixodes ricinus ticks, we examined tick salivary gland contents. We found that I. ricinus is a competent vector for EU1 and that their sporozoites directly invade erythrocytes. We conclude that EU1 is naturally transmitted by I. ricinus

Babesia spp. identified by PCR in ticks collected from domestic and wild ruminants in southern Switzerland

Mehrfachinfektionen mit von Zecken übertragenen Pathogenen wurden in einer Rindviehherde in der Schweiz nachgewiesen, wobei ein Erreger als Babesia bigemina identifiziert wurde, welcher zuvor noch nie in diesem Land entdeckt worden war. Deswegen wurde die Verbreitung von ruminanten Babesien-Arten und deren Überträgerzecken in der Schweiz untersucht. Insgesamt wurden 2,017 Zecken von Haus- und Wildwiederkäuern in den südlichen Teilen der Schweiz gesammelt und morphologisch bestimmt. Der grösste Teil der Zecken (99.2%) waren Ixodes ricinus, 14 Zecken von Schafen und Ziegen wurden als Dermacentor marginatus identifiziert und zwei Zecken von Wildwiederkäuern als Haemaphysalis punctata. Mit der PCR-Analyse von 700 Zecken wurden B. divergens (n = 6), Babesia sp. Genotyp EU1 (n = 14) und B. major (n = 2), deren vermutete Existenz mit molekularen Methoden in dieser Studie bestätigt werden konnte, und der neue Babesia sp. Genotyp CH1 (n = 4) nachgewiesen. Der Nachweis von B. divergens und B. major in von Wildwiederkäuern gesammelten Zecken lässt die postulierte strikte Wirtsspezifität von bovinen Babesien Arten fraglich erscheinen. Zudem wurde der zoonotische Babesia sp. Genotyp EU1 in Zecken von Haustieren entdeckt und vor allem auch in Zecken, die von Wildwiederkäuern abgelesen worden waren. Von zwei Rothirschen wurde mehr als eine Zecke gesammelt, die DNA von verschiedenen Babesien-Arten enthielten. Folglich scheint das Wild eine wichtige Rolle als Reservoirwirt für Babesien-Arten zu spielen, doch sind weitere Untersuchungen erforderlich. Concurrent infections with vector-borne pathogens affected a cattle herd in Switzerland, and one of the pathogens was identified as Babesia bigemina, which had never been observed in this country before. Therefore, a survey of the occurrence of ruminant Babesia spp. and their tick vectors in Switzerland was conducted. A total of 2,017 ticks were collected from domestic and wild ruminants in southern parts of Switzerland and identified morphologically. The vast majority of the ticks (99.2%) were Ixodes ricinus, but 14 ticks from sheep and goats were identified as Dermacentor marginatus and two ticks from wild ruminants as Haemaphysalis punctata. PCR analyses of 700 ticks revealed the presence of Babesia divergens (n = 6), Babesia sp. genotype EU1 (n = 14), and B. major (n = 2), whose suggested occurrence was confirmed in this study by molecular analysis, and the presence of novel Babesia sp. genotype CH1 (n = 4). The identification of B. divergens and B. major in ticks collected from wild ruminants cast doubt on the postulated strict host specificity of these bovine Babesia species. Furthermore, the zoonotic Babesia sp. genotype EU1 was detected in ticks collected from domestic animals but was obtained predominantly from ticks collected from wild ruminants. More than one tick containing DNA of different Babesia spp. were collected from two red deer. Hence, the role of these game animals as reservoir hosts of Babesia spp. seems to be important but requires further investigation

Babesia spp. Identified by PCR in Ticks Collected from Domestic and Wild Ruminants in Southern Switzerland

Concurrent infections with vector-borne pathogens affected a cattle herd in Switzerland, and one of the pathogens was identified as Babesia bigemina, which had never been observed in this country before. Therefore, a survey of the occurrence of ruminant Babesia spp. and their tick vectors in Switzerland was conducted. A total of 2,017 ticks were collected from sheep, goats, cattle, and wild ruminants (deer, roe deer, and chamois) in southern parts of Switzerland and identified morphologically. The vast majority of the ticks (99.2%) were Ixodes ricinus, but 14 ticks from sheep and goats were identified as Dermacentor marginatus and two ticks from wild ruminants were identified as Hemaphysalis punctata. PCR analyses of 700 ticks revealed the presence of Babesia divergens (n = 6), Babesia sp. genotype EU1 (n = 14), and B. major (n = 2), whose suggested occurrence was confirmed in this study by molecular analysis, and the presence of novel Babesia sp. genotype CH1 (n = 4), which is closely related to B. odocoilei and to Babesia sp. genotype RD61 reported from North America. The identification of B. divergens and B. major in ticks collected from wild ruminants cast doubt on the postulated strict host specificity of these bovine Babesia species. Furthermore, the zoonotic Babesia sp. genotype EU1 was detected in ticks collected from domestic animals but was obtained predominantly from ticks collected from wild ruminants. More than one tick containing DNA of different Babesia spp. were collected from two red deer. Hence, the role of these game animals as reservoir hosts of Babesia spp. seems to be important but requires further investigation

The Family Systems Care Unit FSCU, Winterthur : how a vision comes alive at the Zurich University Of Applied Sciences ZHAW, Switzerland

The FSCU will be introduced with its unique combination of live family counselling, teaching, and research. Supervised clinical family conversations are at the heart of this living lab. The workshop focuses on the first three years of development, explaining how a team of clinical experts established a reflective clinical practice. This is a relevant decisive condition for providing deep insight for students at all levels. Postmaster students can join a supervised trainee program. As all family interviews are recorded, a growing database is generated for research. This provides the possibility to generate and combine practice- and research-based evidence

Genotyping of Babesia bigemina from cattle from a non-endemic area (Switzerland)

In August 2002, bovine anaplasmosis and concurrent infections with Mycoplasma sp. and piroplasms were reported in a cattle herd in an alpine region of Switzerland. The piroplasms were identified by PCR/sequencing of part of the 18S rRNA gene as Babesia bigemina and Theileria of the buffeli/sergenti/orientalis-complex, which have never been diagnosed in Switzerland before. The B. bigemina isolate was genetically characterised at two loci and compared with isolates from Italy, Spain, Turkey, Kenya and Mexico. Analysis of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) of the rRNA genes revealed high polymorphism not only among the isolates but even within the isolates, and the presence of two types of the ITS2 in every isolate was confirmed. A dendrogram based on ITS2 sequences showed that the Swiss isolate was most closely related to a Spanish isolate but no sequences of the isolate from Switzerland were identical to any of the other isolates. The isolate from Italy was not positioned in the same cluster as the Swiss and the Spanish isolate. This had been anticipated as the nearest known endemic area of B. bigemina in Central Italy. Sequence analysis of the rhoptry-associated protein-1c gene (rap1c) confirmed the similarity of the Swiss and Spanish isolate. Hence, our molecular analyses of the Swiss B. bigemina isolate did not unequivocally track its geographical origin and the way of introduction remains obscure

Babesia divergens-like organisms from free-ranging chamois (Rupicapra r. rupicapra) and roe deer (Capreolus c. capreolus) are distinct from B. divergens of cattle origin - an epidemiological and molecular genetic investigation

In 2005 and 2006, three adult female chamois (Rupicapra r. rupicapra) were found dead with signs of acute babesial infection in the eastern Swiss Alps. PCR on DNA extracted from blood or spleen of the carcasses revealed sequence identity of the amplified part of the 18S rRNA gene with GenBank entries attributed to Babesia divergens of cattle origin or B. capreoli of wild ruminant origin which have never been described before in this region. Examination of 424 blood samples from 314 head of cattle from this area by IFAT, microscopy and PCR provided no evidence for babesial infection. Six of 887 ticks collected from cattle were PCR-positive, and sequencing revealed Babesia sp. genotype EU1 in five and B. divergens/B. capreoli in one of them. A Babesia isolate of chamois, two isolates of roe deer from the same region and one isolate of a roe deer from the north-western Swiss Alps were genetically compared with two Swiss B. divergens isolates of cattle origin by analysing the genomic rDNA locus. Whereas the near full length sequences of the 18S rRNA gene were virtually identical among all six isolates (>99.4% identity), distinct differences between the two isolates from cattle on the one hand and the four isolates from free-ranging ruminants on the other hand were observed in the sequences of the internal transcribed spacers 1 and 2 (ITS1, ITS2) and part of the 28S rRNA gene. These results indicate that, albeit genetically very closely related, these babesial organisms from cattle and from free-ranging ruminants indeed are distinguishable organisms with different host specificities, and they support the use of the discrete species name B. capreoli for the B. divergens-like organisms from chamois and roe deer