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Babesia Species: - Order: Piroplasmida - Family: Babesiidae - Medically Important Species
Babesia Species: - Order: Piroplasmida - Family: Babesiidae - Medically Important Species
• History
– named after Babes, who in 1888 described the
parasite in the blood of cattle and sheep in
Romania
• Habitat
– The parasite is present in erythrocytes and
resembles the ring stage of P. falciparum
• Morphology
– Trophozoites are pleomorphic 2–5 μm in diameter
– The shape may be pyriform, amoeboid, or
spindle-like, usually in pairs
– Merozoites may be spherical or oval or pyrifom
bodies, found in pairs
Babesia Species
• Life cycle
– Definitive host: Ixodid ticks
– Intermediate host: Man or other mammals
– Infective form: Sporozoites
– Mode of Transmission:
• bite of the nymphal stage of Ixodid ticks
• blood transfusion
• Transovarian transmission ( in ticks)
• Man acquires infection by bite of the infected ticks
• Sporozoites present in the salivary glands of tick are
introduced in man
• Sporozoites change to trophozoites in the circulation
• Trophozoites invade the RBCs & undergo schizogony to
form 4 or more trophozoites
• Newly formed trophozoites are released and invade new
erythrocytes
• Some of the sporozoites grow slowly inside red cells &
form gametocytes
Life cycle cont’d
• Female ticks become infected by feeding the
host blood
• Gametocytes multiply sexually in the digestive
tract of ticks
– migrate to the salivery glands & form ‘vermecules’
• Vermecules undergo schizogony to produce
sporozoites
Pathogenecity & clinical features