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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, December 2001, p. 4316-4322, Vol. 39, No. 12
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.12.4316-4322.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Human Babesiosis in Japan: Epizootiologic Survey of Rodent Reservoir and Isolation of New Type of Babesia microti-Like Parasite

Masayoshi Tsuji,1,* Qiang Wei,1 Aya Zamoto,1 Chiharu Morita,1 Satoru Arai,2 Tsunezo Shiota,3 Masato Fujimagari,4 Asao Itagaki,5 Hiromi Fujita,6 and Chiaki Ishihara1

School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno-Gakuen University, Ebetsu 069-8501,1 National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8640,2 Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto 602-8566,3 Public Health Laboratory of Chiba Prefecture, Nitona 666-2, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8715,4 Shimane Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Science, Matsue 690-0122,5 and Ohara General Hospital, Fukushima 960-0195,6 Japan

Received 16 July 2001/Returned for modification 14 August 2001/Accepted 17 September 2001

We have carried out epizootiologic surveys at various sites in Japan to investigate wild animals that serve as reservoirs for the agents of human babesiosis in the country. Small mammals comprising six species, Apodemus speciosus, Apodemus argenteus, Clethrionomys rufocanus, Eothenomys smithii, Crocidura dsinezumi, and Sorex unguiculatus, were trapped at various places, including Hokkaido, Chiba, Shiga, Hyogo, Shimane, and Tokushima Prefectures. Animals harboring Babesia microti-like parasites were detected in all six prefectures. Inoculation of their blood samples into hamsters gave rise to a total of 20 parasite isolates; 19 were from A. speciosus, and the other 1 was from C. rufocanus. Sequencing of the parasite small-subunit rRNA gene (rDNA) sequence revealed that 2 of the 20 isolates were classified as Kobe type because their rDNAs were identical to that of the Kobe strain (the strain from the Japanese index case). The other 18 isolates were classified as a new type, designated the Hobetsu type, because they all shared an identical rDNA sequence which differed significantly from both that of Kobe-type isolates and that of northeastern United States B. microti (U.S. type). The parasites with Kobe-, Hobetsu- and U.S.-type rDNAs were phylogenetically closely related to each other but clearly different from each other antigenically. The isolates from rodents were demonstrated to be infective for human erythrocytes by inoculation into SCID mice whose erythrocytes had been replaced with human erythrocytes. The results suggest that a new type of B. microti-like parasite, namely, the Hobetsu type, is the major one which is prevalent among Japanese wild rodents, that A. speciosus serves as a major reservoir for both Kobe- and Hobetsu-type B. microti-like parasites, and that C. rufocanus may also be an additional reservoir on Hokkaido Island.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno-Gakuen University, 582-1 Bunkyodai-Midorimachi, Ebetsu 069-8501, Japan. Phone: 81-11-386-3144. Fax: 81-11-386-3144. E-mail: tsuji{at}rakuno.ac.jp.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, December 2001, p. 4316-4322, Vol. 39, No. 12
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.12.4316-4322.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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