| Summary: | The objective of our study was to survey <i>Babesia</i> infection rates by PCR and tick species on stray dogs to correlate the distribution of <i>Babesia</i> with the distribution of ticks infesting dogs in Taiwan. Three hundred eighty-eight blood samples and 3037 ticks were collected from 388 roaming, and free-ranging owned dogs at residential sites in Taiwan between January 2015 and December 2017. The prevalence of <i>B. gibsoni</i> and <i>B. vogeli</i> was 15.7% (61/388) and 9.5% (37/388), respectively. Most positive <i>B. gibsoni</i> dogs were found in the northern part of the country 56/61 (91.8%), whereas a few were found in the middle 5/61 (8.2%). <i>Babesia vogeli</i> infection rates were 10%, 3.6%, and 18.2% in the northern, central, and southern regions, respectively. Five species of ticks were found: <i>Rhipicephalus sanguineus</i> (throughout Taiwan), <i>Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides</i> (in the north), <i>Haemaphysalis hystricis</i> (in the north and middle of Taiwan), and <i>Amblyomma testidunarium</i> and <i>Ixodes ovatus</i> (both in the north). None of the dogs in the south were infected with <i>B gibsoni</i>, which correlated with the absence of <i>H. hystricis</i>, a tick recently identified as the local vector for <i>B gibsoni</i>. <i>Babesia vogeli</i> was more equally distributed, coinciding with <i>R. sanguineus</i>, a tick that is present throughout Taiwan. Anaemia was detected in 86.9% of infected dogs; among these dogs, approximately 19.7% showed severe anaemia (HCT < 20). These findings provide useful advice for owners regarding outdoor activities with their dogs and local veterinarians with a regional differential diagnosis of babesiosis in Taiwan.
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