Long-term study of Borrelia and Babesia prevalence and co-infection in Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor recticulatus ticks removed from humans in Poland, 2016-2019.

Background: Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most common vector-borne disease in Europe. Monitoring changes in the prevalence of different Borrelia species in ticks may be an important indicator of risk assessment and of differences in pathogenicity in humans. The objective of our study was to assess the prevalence, co-infection and distribution of Borrelia and Babesia species in ticks removed from humans in a large sample collected during a study period of 4 years.