Publications by authors named "Momoko Morikawa"
Article Synopsis
- Wild animals are important reservoirs for tick-borne parasites like Babesia and Theileria spp., which can impact humans and livestock. * A study in western Japan found a high prevalence (63.9%) of a Babesia species in wild boar, with genetic analyses linking it to Babesia gibsoni and a related tick species. * No Theileria were found in the samples, indicating that further research is needed to understand the characteristics and impacts of this Babesia species in wild boar.
Monitoring of the epidemic situation is imperative to control the risk of infection with avian influenza H5 and H7 subtype viruses. A microneutralization (MN) assay was employed to detect hemagglutinin (HA) subtype-specific antibodies. However, the conventional MN assay raises biosafety concerns and is labor-intensive and time-consuming.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe sika deer (Cervus nippon) is one of the most common species of wildlife in Japan. This study aimed to reveal the prevalence of tick-borne protozoan parasites in wild sika deer living in western Japan. We used nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect the 18S rRNA gene of tick-borne apicomplexan parasites (Babesia, Theileria, and Hepatozoon spp.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF