The ecological niche and seasonality of Theileria equi in Portugal

Infection probability for Theileria equi in Portugal is highest in August and lowest in February, with strong spatial heterogeneity across regions.

• Why it matters: Equine piroplasmosis is an evolving concern in Europe, but the seasonal and spatial abiotic drivers shaping Theileria equi infection risk in Portugal remain poorly characterized.
• What they did: Using equine PCR field-surveillance data plus public datasets, the study estimated spatio-temporal infection probability and its ecological niche drivers, linking risk to bovine abundance, temperature, planosol soils, and equine density.
• The result: Regions in the far north and north-east showed low in- and off-season risk with prolonged off-seasons, while centre and north-west regions showed high year-round risk with brief off-seasons, enabling risk-stratified surveillance.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.