Babésioses

Detection ofBabesia caballiandTheileria equiin Blood from Equines from Four Indigenous Communities in Costa Rica

“…The laboratory results suggest that the two agents are endemic in the zones where indigenous communities are located, indicating piroplasm presence without causing serious diseases in the horses. In this respect, 7.7% of animals detected with mixed infections did not present clinical characteristics different than those of animals with simple infections [ 1 ]. Endemicity in indigenous communities is probably due to the presence of a great amount of ticks, which were found on the horses and which constantly transmit piroplasms from infected to susceptible animals.…”

“…Endemicity in indigenous communities is probably due to the presence of a great amount of ticks, which were found on the horses and which constantly transmit piroplasms from infected to susceptible animals. This may also represent a potential risk for indigenous individuals, because most of them live in close proximity to their animals and may acquire babesial agents through ticks [ 1 , 27 , 28 ].…”

“…Special attention should be given to the fact that a greater presence of T. equi was detected in indigenous communities, because this agent is considered more pathogenic and has been related to babesial infections in humans due to its taxonomic closeness to Theileria microti (formerly Babesia microti ), which causes most clinical cases in humans. Although B. caballi and T. equi (named as B. equi ) serologically positive human cases have been reported [ 1 , 27 , 28 ], the OIE concludes that human babesiosis is a disease that has not been sufficiently studied, and a risk for human populations cannot be ruled out [ 2 ].…”

“…Equine piroplasmosis is a horse infection produced by Babesia caballi and Theileria equi protozoan that belong, respectively, to the Babesiidae and Theileriidae families of the order Piroplasmida. The two agents may infest an animal at the same time and they are transmitted by ticks [ 1 , 2 ].…”

Equine piroplasmosis in Greece

“…The incubation period varies according to the parasite in presence. With B. caballi, it ranges between 1 to 3 weeks (Maslin et al, 2004) and varies from 2-10 days up to 21 days depending on the vector tick…”