Babesiosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the intraerythrocytic parasite Babesia, which poses a serious threat to public health. Currently, the prevalence of babesiosis in domestic animals and the genetic diversity of Babesia in Central China have not been comprehensively studied.

In this study, we collected 1093 ticks, including 95.24% (1041/1093) Haemaphysalis longicornis, 4.67% (51/1093) Rhipicephalus microplus, and 0.09% (1/1093) Ixodes sinensis. Blood samples from 216 goats, 56 cattle, and 25 dogs were collected from Suizhou City, Hubei Province, China, and animal blood DNA was extracted for the detection of Babesia with PCR.

PCR results showed that 50.00% (28/56) of cattle and 32.00% (8/25) of dogs were Babesia-positive, including for Babesia bovis 3.57% (2/56), B. bigemina 3.57% (2/56), and B. ovata 42.86% (24/56) in cattle and B. gibsoni 32.00% (8/25) in dogs. All goats (216) and ticks (1093) were Babesia-negative.

Our findings showed that Babesia infections are prevalent in cattle and dogs in Central China, indicating that babesiosis should be monitored in animals and humans in Central China.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is a tick-borne bunyavirus that could cause a severe hemorrhagic fever termed SFTS with a high fatality rate of up to 30%. Importantly, SFTSV is frequently transmitted from person-to-person and patients' blood or excreta are considered as the risk factors for transmission of SFTSV. However, the mechanism of person-to-person transmission of SFTSV is still elusive.

In this study, wild-type (WT) C57BL/6 J mice and a lethal SFTSV mouse model IFNAR^−/− A129 mice were utilized to evaluate whether SFTSV could be transmitted via oral or ocular routes. C57BL/6 J mice were inoculated with cell-cultured SFTSV via oral and ocular inoculation. IFNAR^−/− A129 mice were inoculated with cell-cultured SFTSV or SFTSV infected mouse acute sera via oral and ocular inoculation.

We found that SFTSV antibody positive rates in C57BL/6 J mice were 70% (7/10) and 30% (3/10) in the oral inoculation group and ocular inoculation group, respectively on day 21 post SFTSV inoculation. The mortality rates of IFNAR^−/− mice with oral and ocular inoculation of cell-cultured SFTSV were 100% and 83.33% (5/6), respectively on day 6 post inoculation. The mortality rates of IFNAR^−/− mice with oral and ocular inoculation of SFTSV infected mouse acute serum were 100% and 66.67% (4/6), respectively on day 9 post inoculation.

Together, our results show that SFTSV can be transmitted effectively through oral and ocular membrane, suggesting exposure to SFTS positive excreta may be a high-risk factor of nosocomial transmission of SFTSV in hospitals and/or families. Family members and healthcare workers should be protected properly during taking care of SFTS patients to prevent SFTSV nosocomial infection.