Table 1.

Geographical distribution, relevant vectors, and the expected size of Babesia spp. in blood smears. Data for the primary Babesia species found in Europe provided

Species	Geographical distribution	Vector	Approximate size (μm) in a blood smear	Reference
Babesia canis	Described across most of Europe (from Portugal to the north and east of Europe), and especially common in cool and wet climates. Higher prevalence in central Europe and lower prevalence in the Mediterranean basin	Dermacentor reticulatus	2.5 × 4.5	[9, 21, 55, 56, 58, 61, 84, 100, 149–151]
Babesia vogeli	Albania, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey	Rhipicephalus sanguineus	2.5 × 4.5	[9, 21, 55, 56, 58, 61, 62, 84, 100, 149–151]
Babesia gibsoni	Croatia, Germany, Italy, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain and United Kingdom	Rhipicephalus sanguineus?a	1 × 3	[21, 48, 73, 152–154]
Babesia microti-like sp.	Croatia, France, Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Spain and Sweden	Ixodes hexagonus a Ixodes canisuga a	1 × 2.5	[21, 35, 50, 62, 63]

^aVectorial ability has not been demonstrated in the laboratory; its role is an assumption based on epidemiological data