ORIGINAL PAPER A molecular survey of Theileria and Babesia parasites in cattle, with a note on the distribution of ticks in Tunisia Y. M’ghirbi & A. Hurtado & J. Brandika & K. Khlif & Z. Ketata & A. Bouattour Received: 28 February 2008 / Accepted: 7 April 2008 / Published online: 7 May 2008 # Springer-Verlag 2008 Abstract Between October and November 2006, a total of 278 bovine blood samples were examined, and 104 (37.4%) were positive for piroplasms by microscopy. A reverse line blot hybridisation with polymerase chain reaction detected Theileria annulata, T. buffeli, Babesia bovis and B. bigemina in cattle accounting for 48.6% of positive samples. The most frequently found species was T. buffeli, which was present in 39.2% of the samples. T. annulata was found in 48 samples (17.3%). Babesia infections were less frequently detected: B. bovis was found in 6.8% of the samples and B. bigemina in 4.3%. Mixed infections were detected in 45 samples, accounting for seven different combinations of species. Seven Ixodid tick species (Boophilus annulatus, Ixodes ricinus, Hyalomma margin- atum, Hyalomma excavatum, Hyalomma detritum, Haema- physalis punctata and Haemaphysalis sulcata) were collected from examined cattle in the 23 visited farms. I. ricinus was the dominant species (36%), mainly collected in the humid zone, while it seemed to be very rare in the semi-arid zone (where only 15 specimens were collected), whereas B. annulatus was the most commonly collected species in the sub-humid area (68.5% of ticks collected in this zone). Introduction Theileria and Babesia species are tick-borne intracellular protozoan parasites belonging to the phylum Apicomplexa (Mehlhorn and Schein 1984), which affect many domestic and wild animals. In North Africa, five species affecting cattle have been described (Sergent et al. 1945; Bouattour and Darghouth 1996): T. annulata, the causative agent of tropical theileriosis (Dschunkowsky and Luhs 1904), transmitted by the Ixodid tick, Hyalomma detritum (Sergent et al. 1928); T. buffeli/orientalis, the causative agent of benign theileriosis, first reported by Sergent et al. (1945), who named it T . mutans, and whose vector in North Africa is not yet known (but known to be transmitted in Europe, Asia and Australia by Haemaphysalis ticks); the causative agents of bovine babesiosis, Babesia bovis and B. bige- mina, which are both transmitted by Boophilus annulatus and Rhipicephalus bursa (Cottier 1936; Sergent et al. 1924, 1945; Cordier 1941; Gayot 1953; Flach et al. 1993); and B. divergens, transmitted by Ixodes ricinus, in North Africa only recorded in Tunisia (Bouattour and Darghouth 1996). T. annulata, an endemic haemoparasite in Northern Tunisia and the main cause of bovine piroplasmosis, constitutes a hindrance of improvement of the local cattle population by the introduction of European breeds, which are more sensitive to this piroplasm (Bouattour et al. 1994; Darghouth et al. 1996). In endemic regions, piroplasmosis, particularly Parasitol Res (2008) 103:435–442 DOI 10.1007/s00436-008-0995-3 Y. M’ghirbi : A. Bouattour (*) Service d’Entomologie Médicale, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, 1002 Tunis, Tunisia e-mail: ali.bouattour@pasteur.rns.tn Y. M’ghirbi e-mail: youmna_mgh@hotmail.com A. Hurtado : J. Brandika Department of Production and Animal Health, NEIKER—Instituto Vasco de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario, Berreaga 1, 48160 Derio, Bizkaia, Spain A. Hurtado e-mail: ahurtado@neiker.net K. Khlif : Z. Ketata Circonscription Santé Animale, CRDA Zaghouan, Tunisia