Human babesiosis is a tick-borne infectious disease caused by Babesia species. The clinical diagnosis is difficult because of nonspecific symptoms like flu. Rapid diagnosis of human babesiosis is microscopic examination in peripheral blood smear (Giemsa-stain) which reveals characteristic forms of an intracellular quadruplet parasite. But differentiation between Babesia microti and Plasmodium species can be quite difficult because of the morphologic similarity. We experienced a case of human babesiosis. The patient was a 62-year old Korean male who had been in New Jersey, U.S.A for 2 months. We initially diagnosed as malaria infection because the peripheral blood smear revealed intracellular single ring form organism. But the patient was not improved significantly by the treatment with chloroquine regimen. Finally we confirmed human babesiosis by polymerase chain reaction for Babesia microti. We treated the patient successfully with a regimen of atovaquone and azithromycin which has fewer adverse reactions than a regimen of clindamycin and quinine.
Animals ; Atovaquone* ; Azithromycin* ; Babesia ; Babesia microti ; Babesiosis* ; Chloroquine ; Clindamycin ; Communicable Diseases ; Diagnosis ; Humans* ; Malaria ; Male ; Middle Aged ; New Jersey ; Parasites ; Plasmodium ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Quadruplets ; Quinine

Human babesiosis is a tick-borne infectious disease caused by Babesia species. The clinical diagnosis is difficult because of nonspecific symptoms like flu. Rapid diagnosis of human babesiosis is microscopic examination in peripheral blood smear (Giemsa-stain) which reveals characteristic forms of an intracellular quadruplet parasite. But differentiation between Babesia microti and Plasmodium species can be quite difficult because of the morphologic similarity. We experienced a case of human babesiosis. The patient was a 62-year old Korean male who had been in New Jersey, U.S.A for 2 months. We initially diagnosed as malaria infection because the peripheral blood smear revealed intracellular single ring form organism. But the patient was not improved significantly by the treatment with chloroquine regimen. Finally we confirmed human babesiosis by polymerase chain reaction for Babesia microti. We treated the patient successfully with a regimen of atovaquone and azithromycin which has fewer adverse reactions than a regimen of clindamycin and quinine.
Animals ; Atovaquone* ; Azithromycin* ; Babesia ; Babesia microti ; Babesiosis* ; Chloroquine ; Clindamycin ; Communicable Diseases ; Diagnosis ; Humans* ; Malaria ; Male ; Middle Aged ; New Jersey ; Parasites ; Plasmodium ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Quadruplets ; Quinine

Babesiosis, caused by Babesia microti and B. divergens, is transmitted by Ixodid ticks. Symptoms of babesiosis vary from a mild flu-like illness to acute, severe, and sometimes fatal and fulminant disease. In Korea, 7 imported babesiosis cases and 1 endemic case have been reported. We report 2 cases of severe babesiosis initially mistaken as malaria. The first patient was complicated by shock and splenic infarction, the other co-infected with Lyme disease. As the population traveling abroad increases every year, physicians should be aware of babesiosis which mimics malaria, co-infection with other diseases, and its complications.
Animals ; Babesia microti ; Babesiosis ; Coinfection ; Humans ; Korea ; Lyme Disease ; Malaria ; Republic of Korea ; Shock ; Splenic Infarction ; Ticks

Although rapid diagnosis of human babesiosis usually can be made by microscopic examination of thin and thick blood smears, differentiation between Babesia microti and Plasmodium falciparum can be quite difficult. The parasite is often not visualized in the early course of infection or in a partially treated case and the young trophozoites of these two organisms are similar. Recently, we experienced a case, which was thought as human babesiosis initially by microscopic examination of the Giemsa-stained thin blood smears, but was finally diagno-sed as P. falcifarum infection by indirect immunofluorescent antibody assay and polymerase chain reaction. The patient was treated successfully with quinine and clindamycin, which are effective in both infections. When differential diagnosis is difficult, we suggest combination therapy of quinine and clindamycin as an empirical regimen.
Animals ; Babesia microti ; Babesiosis ; Clindamycin* ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Parasites ; Plasmodium falciparum ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Quinine* ; Trophozoites

Infections of Toxoplasma gondii and Babesia microti are reported in many wild animals worldwide, but information on their incidence and molecular detection in Korean wild fields is limited. In this study, the prevalence of T. gondii and B. microti infection in blood samples of 5 animal species (37 Chinese water deer, 23 raccoon dogs, 6 roe deer, 1 wild boar, and 3 Eurasian badgers) was examined during 2008–2009 in Gangwon-do (Province), the Republic of Korea (=Korea) by using serological and molecular tests. The overall seropositivity of T. gondii was 8.6% (6/70); 10.8% in Chinese water deer, 4.3% in raccoon dogs, and 16.7% in roe deer. PCR revealed only 1 case of T. gondii infection in Chinese water deer, and phylogenic analysis showed that the positive isolate was practically identical to the highly pathogenetic strain type I. In B. microti PCR, the positive rate was 5.7% (4/70), including 2 Chinese water deer and 2 Eurasian badgers. Phylogenetic analysis results of 18S rRNA and the β-tubulin gene showed that all positive isolates were US-type B. microti. To our knowledge, this is the first report of B. microti detected in Chinese water deer and Eurasian badger from Korea. These results indicate a potentially high prevalence of T. gondii and B. microti in wild animals of Gangwon-do, Korea. Furthermore, Chinese water deer might act as a reservoir for parasite infections of domestic animals.
Animals ; Animals, Domestic ; Animals, Wild* ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Babesia microti* ; Babesia* ; Deer ; Gangwon-do* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea* ; Mustelidae ; Parasites ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence ; Raccoon Dogs ; Republic of Korea ; Sus scrofa ; Toxoplasma* ; Water

Attempts were made to isolate and identify Korean bovine Babesia parasite. Blood samples were collected from Holstein cows in Korea, and Babesia parasites were propagated in SCID mice with circulating bovine red blood cells for isolation. The isolate was then antigenically and genotypically compared with several Japanese isolates. The Korean parasite was found to be nearly identical to the Oshima strain isolated from Japanese cattle, which was recently designated as Babesia ovata oshimensis n. var. Haemaphysalis longicornis was the most probable tick species that transmited the parasite.
Animals ; Arthropod Vectors/parasitology ; Babesia bovis/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Babesiosis/parasitology ; Base Sequence ; Cattle/*parasitology ; Cattle Diseases/parasitology ; DNA, Protozoan/genetics ; DNA, Ribosomal/genetics ; Erythrocytes/parasitology ; Korea ; Mice ; *Mice, SCID ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Ticks/parasitology

OBJECTIVETo determine the presence of Babesia bovis (B. bovis) in large ruminants in southern Punjab and its effect on hematological and serum biochemical profile of host animals.

METHODSBlood samples were collected from 144 large ruminants, including 105 cattle and 39 buffaloes, from six districts in southern Punjab including Multan, Layyah, Muzaffar Garh, Bhakar, Bahawalnagar and Vehari. Data on the characteristics of animals and herds were collected through questionnaires. Different blood (hemoglobin, glucose) and serum (ALT, AST, LDH, cholesterol) parameters of calves and cattle were measured and compared between parasite positive and negative samples to demonstrate the effect of B. bovis on the blood and serological profile of infected animals.

RESULTS27 out of 144 animals, from 5 out of 6 sampling districts, produced the 541-bp fragment specific for B. bovis. Age of animals (P=0.02), presence of ticks on animals (P=0.04) and presence of ticks on dogs associated with herds (P=0.5) were among the major risk factors involved in the spread of bovine babesiosis in the study area. ALT concentrations were the only serum biochemical values that significantly varied between parasite positive and negative cattle.

CONCLUSIONS: This study has reported for the first time the presence of B. bovis in large ruminant and the results can lead to the prevention of babesiosis in the region to increase the livestock output.

Alanine Transaminase ; blood ; Animals ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; blood ; Babesia bovis ; genetics ; Babesiosis ; blood ; epidemiology ; parasitology ; Blood Glucose ; analysis ; Buffaloes ; Cattle ; Cattle Diseases ; blood ; epidemiology ; parasitology ; Cholesterol ; blood ; India ; epidemiology ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; blood ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Protozoan ; blood ; RNA, Ribosomal ; blood ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Babesiosis is an emerging tick-borne disease in humans worldwide; however, little is known about the frequency of infection or prevalence of this disease in other parts of the world, excluding North America. In this study, we aimed to investigate Babesia microti infection frequency in a human population in Mongolia. One hundred blood samples were collected from stock farmers living in Khutul city of Selenge province, Mongolia. The sera and DNA from blood samples were evaluated for the presence of B. microti infection by using indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) tests and PCR. The positive detection rates obtained using the IFA tests and PCR assays were 7% and 3%, respectively. This study is the first to detect of B. microti infections based on antibody seroprevalence or PCR assays for the presence of B. microti DNA in a Mongolian population.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; *Animal Husbandry ; Antibodies, Protozoan/*blood ; Babesia microti/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Babesiosis/diagnosis/*epidemiology/immunology/pathology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; DNA, Protozoan/*blood ; Female ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Direct ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mongolia/epidemiology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Young Adult

Babesiosis is a tick-borne, malaria-like illness caused by Babesia species that infect erythrocytes of mammals incidentally. The family Babesiidae is characterized by consisting of non-pigmented intraerythrocytic parasites that reproduce within erythrocytes by asynchronous, asexual budding into two or four daughter cells (tetrad). We experienced a case of human babesiosis presenting fever and chills. The patient was a 49-year old man, who had been in Africa (Ethiopia, Uganda). Three weeks before admission intermittent spiking fever had developed, which had been accompanied by severe chills. The peripheral blood smear (Giemsa-stain) revealed characteristic forms of an intracellular quadruplet parasite compatible with Babesia. The patient was improved significantly by the treatment with quinine and clindamycin for a week.
Africa ; Animals ; Babesia ; Babesiosis* ; Chills ; Clindamycin ; Erythrocytes ; Fever ; Humans ; Mammals ; Middle Aged ; Nuclear Family ; Parasites ; Quadruplets ; Quinine

Ticks are the vectors of various pathogens, threatening human health and animal production across the globe. Here, for the first time we detected Ricketssia spp., Borrelia spp. and protozoan in ticks from Poyang Lake region in Jiangxi Province of eastern China. In 3 habitat categories and on 12 host species, 311 ticks from 11 species were collected. Haemaphysalis longicornis was the predominant species, accounting for 55.63%, followed by Rhipicephalus microplus, Haemaphysalis flava and Ixodes granulatus. Of the collected ticks, 7.07% were positive for tick-borne pathogens, and H. longicornis and H. flava were found to be co-infected with Ricketssia spp. and protozoan. H. flava was the most detected positive for tick-borne pathogens, whereas H. longicornis had the lowest infection rate, and the difference in infection rates between tick species was significant (χ²=61.24, P < 0.001). Furthermore, adult ticks demonstrated remarkably greater infection rate than immature ticks (χ²=10.12, P=0.018), meanwhile ticks on Erinaceidae showed significantly higher positivity than ticks collected on other host species (χ²=108.44, P < 0.001). Genetic fragment sequencing and analyses showed at least 4 pathogen species presence in ticks, namely Borrelia yangtzensis, Rickettsia slovaca or Rickettsia raoultii related genospecies, Babesia vogeli and Hepatozoon canis or Hepatozoon felis related genospecies. The finding indicates that the abundant ticks can carry diverse pathogens in Poyang Lake region, and pathogen infection is highly related to species, vertebrate hosts and life stages of ticks.
Adult ; Animals ; Babesia ; Borrelia ; Cats ; China ; Ecosystem ; Epidemiology ; Felis ; Hedgehogs ; Humans ; Ixodes ; Lakes ; Rhipicephalus ; Rickettsia ; Risk Factors ; Ticks ; Vertebrates