Abstract
Babesiosis (piroplasmosis) is a zoonotic disease caused by an intraerythrocytic protozoan transmitted by Ixodes ticks. The aim of this study was to detect Babesia spp. infection using molecular methods in 377 blood samples from anemic patients. Sequence analysis showed that the 18S rRNA gene was 439 bases long by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and that the PCR products from the samples had an identical sequence (named Taian China, HM355854). BLAST search showed that the sequence was identical to the 18S rRNA sequences of Babesia divergens. The 18S rRNA sequence for Toxoplasma gondii was included as the outlier for phylogenetic analysis by using the program MEGA4.0 software. The results showed that the 18S rRNA gene sequences obtained from the present study was most closely related to B. divergens Switzerland (DQ312439) with 98.4% similarity (differing only by seven bases). The phylogenetic analysis also revealed that this sequence closely resembled B. divergens strains from other countries and belonged to the same clade. This is the first report of a human being infected by B. divergens in China.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Edelhofer R, Müller A, Schuh M, Obritzhauser W, Kanout A (2004) Differentiation of Babesia bigemina, B. bovis, B. divergens and B. major by Western blotting—first report of B. bovis in Austrian cattle. Parasitol Res 92:433–435
Fritz D (2010) A PCR study of piroplasms in 166 dogs and 111 horses in France (March 2006 to March 2008). Parasitol Res 106:1339–1342
Gorenflot A, Moubri K, Precigout E, Carcy B, Schetters TP (1998) Human babesiosis. Ann Trop Med Parasitol 92:489–501
Hemmer RM, Ferrick DA, Conrad PA (2000) Up-regulation of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-gamma expression in the spleen and lungs of mice infected with the human Babesia isolate WA1. Parasitol Res 86:121–128
Herwaldt BL, Caccio S, Gherlinzoni F, Aspock H, Slemenda SB, Piccaluga P, Martinelli G, Edelhofer R, Hollenstein U, Poletti G, Pampiglione S, Loschenberger K, Tura S, Pieniazek NJ (2003) Molecular characterization of a non-Babesia divergens organism causing zoonotic babesiosis in Europe. Emerg Infect Dis 9:942–948
Hilpertshauser H, Deplazes P, Schnyder M, Gern L, Mathis A (2006) Babesia spp. identified by PCR in ticks collected from domestic and wild ruminants in southern Switzerland. Appl Environ Microbiol 72:6503–6507
Hunfeld KP, Brade V (2004) Zoonotic Babesia: possibly emerging pathogens to be considered for tick-infested humans in central Europe. Int J Med Microbiol 293:93–103
Jaffer O, Abdishakur F, Hakimuddin F, Riya A, Wernery U, Schuster RK (2010) A comparative study of serological tests and PCR for the diagnosis of equine piroplasmosis. Parasitol Res 106:709–713
Kjemtrup AM, Conrad PA (2000) Human babesiosis: an emerging tick-borne disease. Int J Parasitol 30:1323–1337
Krause PJ (1992) Babesiosis. In: Feigin RD, Cherry JD (eds) Textbook of pediatric infectious diseases. VCB Saunders, Philadelphia
Krause PJ (2002) Babesiosis. Med Clin North Am 86:361–373
Krause PJSR, Telford A III, Spielman V, Sikand R, Christianson RD, Burke G, Brassard P, Pollack R, Peck J, Persing DH (1996) Concurrent Lyme disease and babesiosis: evidence for increased severity and duration of illness. JAMA 275:1657–1660
Levine ND (1988) The protozoan phylum apicomplexa, vol 2. CRC, Boca Raton
Malandrin L, L’Host M, Chauvin A (2004) Isolation of Babesia divergens from carrier cattle blood using in vitro culture. Vet Res 35:131–139
Salih DA, Abdel Rahman MB, Mohammed AS, Ahmed R, Kamal S, El Hussein AM (2009) Seroprevalence of tick-borne diseases among cattle in the Sudan. Parasitol Res 104:845–850
Shih CM, Liu LP, Chung WC, Ong SJ, Wang CC (1997) Human babesiosis in Taiwan: asymptomatic infection with a Babesia microti-like organism in a Taiwanese woman. J Clin Microbiol 35:450–454
Su GG, Zhao NF, Ye XX (2002) A case report of babesiosis. Chin J Zoonoses 18:112
Sun Y, Liu G, Yang L, Xu R, Cao W (2008) Babesia microti-like rodent parasites isolated from Ixodes persulcatus (Acari: Ixodidae) in Heilongjiang Province. China Vet Parasitol 156:333–339
Tanaka M, Sakurai T, Yokoyama N, Inoue N, Kawazu S (2009) Cloning and characterization of peroxiredoxin in Babesia bovis. Parasitol Res 105:1473–1477
Yin H, LuWS LJX, Zhang QC, LuWX DHF (1997) Isolation and morphological observation of Babesia motasi and B. ovis in China. Chin J Vet Sci Technol 10:7–9
Zhao XR, Li CR, Ming YG (1986) Investigation on ovine babesiosis. Chin J Vet Sci Technol 1:26–27
Acknowledgment
This research was supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project (200801417, 200801001, 62567).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Chunhua Qi and Dong Zhou equally contributed to the present study.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Qi, C., Zhou, D., Liu, J. et al. Detection of Babesia divergens using molecular methods in anemic patients in Shandong Province, China. Parasitol Res 109, 241–245 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-011-2382-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-011-2382-8