Babesia microti Prevalence in Humans, Rodents, and Ticks in Southern Zhejiang (2020–2023)

A collection of results from 4,728 samples collected between 2020 and 2023 across seven counties in southern Zhejiang Province, China. It details the detection of Babesia microti in 2,475 local residents, 358 blood donors, 1,615 rodents, and 280 ticks, with infection rates of 0.24%, 4.40%, and 3.21% respectively. The study, authored by Jia-Qi Zhang, identifies specific rodent and tick species involved and reports asymptomatic human carriers.

Use Cases

• Analyze infection rates of Babesia microti across different sample types (local residents, blood donors, rodents, ticks) to assess relative risk.
• Identify correlations between positive rodent detection (e.g., Niviventer lotipes) and geographic distribution across the seven surveyed counties.
• Examine the association between human infection status and reported history of outdoor activities or animal contact.
• Map the distribution of identified tick vectors (Haemaphysalis longicornis, Ixodes granulatus, Rhipicephalus spp.) to infection prevalence.
• Perform phylogenetic analysis on positive sample sequences, all identified as the Kobe type, to study genotype structure.

Strengths

• Integrated survey of 4,728 samples across the parasite's life cycle (humans, reservoir hosts, vectors).
• Clear temporal coverage from May 2020 to October 2023 across seven counties in southern Zhejiang Province.
• Identifies 17 rodent species and four tick species, with specific infection rates for each host/vector category.

Limitations

• Small sample size for certain categories (e.g., only 6 positive human cases) limits statistical power for subgroup analysis.
• Data is presented in a DOCX document (18.6 KB), not a structured tabular format, requiring extraction for computational analysis.
• Geographic scope is limited to seven counties in southern Zhejiang, China, which may not be generalizable.

Provenance

Source

figshare, authored by Jia-Qi Zhang.

Collection Method

Field collection of blood samples from residents and donors, and blood/liver tissues from rodents and ticks, followed by DNA extraction and sequencing.

Time Range

May 2020 to October 2023.

Freshness

Data collection ended in October 2023; the record was last updated in March 2026.

Geography

Seven counties in southern Zhejiang Province, China.