Infection with a Babesia-Like Organism in Northern California

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 332; no. 5; pp. 298 - 303
• Main Authors: Persing, David H, Herwaldt, Barbara L, Glaser, Carol, Lane, Robert S, Thomford, John W, Mathiesen, Dane, Krause, Peter J, Phillip, Douglas F, Conrad, Patricia A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA Massachusetts Medical Society 02.02.1995
• Subjects: Adult; Animals; Antibodies, Protozoan - analysis; Antigens; Arachnids; Asymptomatic infection; Babesia - genetics; Babesia - immunology; Babesia divergens; Babesia microti; Babesiosis; Babesiosis - diagnosis; Babesiosis - epidemiology; Babesiosis - parasitology; Biological and medical sciences; California - epidemiology; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Disease; DNA; Fatal Outcome; Health care; Humans; Infections; Infectious diseases; Influenza; Laboratories; Lyme disease; Male; Medical research; Medical sciences; Men; Miscellaneous; Parasites; Parasitic diseases; Pathogens; Pathology; Pediatrics; Piroplasmorida; Polymerase chain reaction; Protozoa; Serology; Splenectomy; Trauma; Veterinary medicine; Zoonoses; United States; North America; America; California; Infection; Case study; Human; Protozoal disease; Exploration; Parasitosis; Zoonosis; Diagnosis; Babesiasis; Piroplasmosis
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199502023320504

The genus babesia comprises approximately 100 species of tick-transmitted protozoa (family Piroplasmorida) that infect a wide variety of wild and domestic animals. 1 , 2 Babesial parasites, together with members of the genus theileria, are referred to as piroplasms because of their pear-shaped intraerythrocytic stages. 2 Only two species, Babesia microti (in the United States) and B. divergens (in Europe), have been definitively identified as human pathogens. In 1991, a zoonotic babesia-like piroplasm (designated WA1) that is genetically and antigenically distinct from B. microti and B. divergens was identified in Washington State. 3 , 4 Phylogenic analysis revealed that WA1 is closely related to the . . .