XXXX is the main candidate as vector of Theileria annae in northwest Spain.

@entity25907 @entity235 @entity3966 @entity281 @entity743 @entity24496
@entity743 canis and @entity743 gibsoni have, until recently, been considered the only piroplasms that parasitise @entity235 . However, recent reports indicate that "small" @entity281 in Spanish @entity235 are surprisingly frequent and molecular phylogenetic analysis indicates that the infecting agent is closely related to @entity743 microti. Because the 18SrDNA sequence was not completely identical to that of @entity25907 , the new name "Theileria annae" was assigned to the @entity235 agent. No information is available regarding the possible vector of the new piroplasm, T. annae. As part of an effort to identify the tick that may transmit T. annae in northwest Spain we asked veterinary surgeons practising in the region to collect and send to our laboratory ticks from @entity235 visiting their clinics. Seven hundred and twenty ticks collected from @entity235 of unknown clinical status during 1998 and 636 ticks collected between November 2001 and March 2002 from 38 @entity235 infected with T. annae and 131 uninfected @entity235 were identified. Results from the first study indicated that among the Ixodidae, @entity24496 clearly predominates over Ixodes ricinus (26.11% versus 6.67%). This observation was consistent with results of the second study, in which @entity24496 was detected in all infected @entity235 and 71.8% of non-infected @entity235 and I. ricinus was not detected in either the infected or non-infected @entity235 . Results from the 2001-2002 study also indicate that the presence of Dermacentor reticulatus adult females is significantly less frequent among infected than non-infected @entity235 (OR=0.44; 95% CI: 0.21-0.92). On the other hand, @entity24496 adult females and males are 6.75 and 4.24 times more likely to be detected among infected than non-infected @entity235 , respectively, with the association being, in both cases, statistically significant (95% CI: 1.97-23.12 and 1.92-9.36, respectively). @entity24496 emerges as the main candidate as vector of T. annae because it feeds on @entity235 more frequently than other ticks and because @entity25907 is transmitted by Ixodes ticks, both in North America and Europe. In the absence of definitive confirmation of this hypothesis, our observations suggest that @entity24496 might serve the same role as does @entity3966 (= @entity3966 ), the vector of @entity25907 in eastern North America.
