 BLOOD, BONE
MARROW,
SPLEEN PARASITES
SPOROZOEA Order: Piroplasmida
BABESIA spp
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bab1-ic |
bab1Lon-ic |
bab1-ic
Babesia spp: babesiosis is a
zoonosis that affects several animals:
B.canis (dogs), B.equi (horses), B.bovis (cattle), B.microti
(rodents).
Some Babesia spp. are not host specific and can be transmitted to
humans:
B. microti and B.bovis/divergens.
The infection is transmitted by the bite of ticks of the Family Ixodidae
of the genera Dermatocentor, Ixodes and Rhipicephalus.
The main vector of B.microti is I.dammini, while vector of B.microti is I.ricinus
B.canis, Giemsa stain.
bab1Lon-ic
Babesia spp.:
intraerythrocytic organisms in blood smears
bab1b-ic
Babesia spp.: after inoculation by the vector, the trophozoites enter
the bloodstream and multiply inside the erythrocytes by budding, releasing
two to fours daughter parasites and causing hemolytic anemia.
Ticks become infected by ingesting blood of parasitized mammals.
Motile "vermicules" develop and multiply in the tick's gut and then migrate
through the body (salivary glands and ovaries).
In some species transovarial transmission (B.bovis and B.caballi)
or transtadial passage, from larva to nimph (B.microti) occur.
Vermicules of Babesia spp. (B.caballi ?) obtained from crushed
Rhipicephalus turanicus eggs. Tick collected from horses in a military farm
in Turkey where the prevalence of equine babesiosis is high.
bab1c-ic
Babesia spp.: by transovarial transmission "vermicules" can infect tick
eggs;
they multiply in the yolk and in intestinal tissues of the larva;
pyriform bodies are then observed in the salivary glands of
the haematophage larvae and nimphs.
Vermicules of Babesia spp. (B.caballi ?) obtained from
crushed Rhipicephalus turanicus eggs. Tick collected from horses
in a military farm in Turkey where the prevalence of equine babesiosis is high.
bab2-ic
B.canis: diagnosis depends on the
observation of the
intraerythrocytic organisms in blood smears.
Pear shaped microorganisms (2-5 µm) and tetrads
are the diagnostic shape of the parasite.
(Giemsa stain).
bab3-ic
B.canis: intraerythrocytic
parasites can be confused with
P.falciparum or P.malariae trophozoites.
Ring and band forms are sometimes observed.
(Giemsa stain).
bab4-ic
B.equi: trophozoites of B.equi
can mimic P.falciparum young ring trophozoites.
  
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