Name & Department:
Mulugeta Wondim
Department of Infectious Diseases and Neuroinfection
Public PhD Defence date: 13/01/2023
Doctoral Thesis title: Detection and Molecular characterization of Babesia spp.
and Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus in ticks from Poland and Ethiopia
Supervisor/s:
Professor Anna Moniuszko-Malinowska, MD, PhD
Associate Professor Justyna Dunaj-Małyszko, PhD
Reviewers:
- prof. dr hab. Alicja Wiercińska-Drapało
- dr hab. Katarzyna Bartosik
- dr hab. Wioletta Żukiewicz-Sobczak
Current affiliation: Medical University of Bialystok
Plans for the Future: I plan to further investigate vector-borne diseases which have public health importance.
Abstract (max 1000 characters with spaces):
Babesia spp. and Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus (TBEV) are mainly transmitted through the bit of Ixodidae ticks. Ticks were processed to detect and characterize Babesia spp. in Poland and Ethiopia and TBEV in Poland. Conventional PCR and sequencing were used to detect the pathogen and characterise their subspecies, respectively. The prevalence of Babesia spp. was 9.74% in ticks from Poland and 8.96% in ticks from Ethiopia. Babesia Microti was the most frequently detected sub-species. Thirty-nine (5.55%) of the ticks were positive for TBEV European subtype out of 703 ticks. Microclimate influenced the detection rate of TBEV.