Babesia bovis is a protozoan parasite of cattle.
A proto- what? - A protozoan is a single celled eukaryotic organism. It is important to note that they are not bacteria.
- Many protozoan species are free-living and exist everywhere on Earth.
- However, some species of protozoan are the most deadly parasites of man and beast.
- The disease malaria is caused by species that belong to the Plasmodium group. Malaria kills 660,000 people every year.
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Picture: Babesia sp. life cycle.
- Sporozoite-carrying ticks infect a mammalian host while taking a blood meal.
- Sporozoites enter erythrocytes (RBCs) and reproduce through asynchronous binary fission, resulting in two, or sometimes four, merozoites.
- Once present in a reservoir host (for B. microti , the reservoir is the white-footed mouse), parasites will develop into male and female gametes. When an ixodide tick feeds upon a competent reservoir, blood-stage gametes are introduced into the gut, where these gametes are fertilized to become zygotes.
- Zygotes enter the tick salivary gland and undergo a sporogonic cycle, forming infectious sporozoites.
- Humans are generally an intermediate host of Babesia species, although blood transfusion transmission does occur.
- Dogs are intermediate hosts, much like humans, although they may have a domestic reservoir role in the human transmission of the newly emerging species Babesia conradae
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