This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Howell, J. M.
Right arrow Articles by Knowles, D. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Howell, J. M.
Right arrow Articles by Knowles, D. P.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2007, p. 3155-3159, Vol. 45, No. 10
0095-1137/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00766-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Persistently Infected Calves as Reservoirs for Acquisition and Transovarial Transmission of Babesia bovis by Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus{triangledown}

Jeanne M. Howell,1* Massaro W. Ueti,1 Guy H. Palmer,1 Glen A. Scoles,2 and Donald P. Knowles1,2

Program in Vector-Borne Diseases, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164-7040,1 Animal Disease Research Unit, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Pullman, Washington 99164-66302

Received 10 April 2007/ Returned for modification 19 June 2007/ Accepted 29 July 2007

Babesia bovis is a deadly disease of cattle resulting in severe economic losses in the vast regions of the world where it is endemic. If reintroduced into the United States, babesiosis would cause significant mortality in the naïve cattle population. In order to address the risk to U.S. cattle, it is essential to quantify the transovarial transmission efficiency in adult female Boophilus microplus ticks following acquisition feeding on persistently infected cattle. This study tested the hypothesis that infection rates are the same for larval progeny derived from females fed to repletion during persistent or acute infection. Increasing parasite levels during acute infection correlated with an increasing number of females harboring kinetes detectable in hemolymph (r = 0.9). The percent infected larvae ranged from 0 to 20% when derived from females fed to repletion on persistently infected calves and from 4 to 6% when derived from females fed to repletion during acute parasitemia. There was no significant difference in infection rates of larval progeny, implying that the risk associated with the introduction of either persistently infected or acutely infected cattle is equal. Parasite levels ranged from 2.4 x 102 to 1.9 x 105 in 3-day-fed larvae derived from females fed to repletion on persistently infected cattle. One group of larvae failed to transmit the parasite, suggesting that a threshold level of parasites must be obtained by larval progeny via transovarial transmission in order for larvae to deliver sufficient parasites to infect a naïve host.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-7040. Phone: (509) 335-6326. Fax: (509) 335-8328. E-mail: jhowell{at}vetmed.wsu.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 8 August 2007.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2007, p. 3155-3159, Vol. 45, No. 10
0095-1137/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00766-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Ueti, M. W., Palmer, G. H., Scoles, G. A., Kappmeyer, L. S., Knowles, D. P. (2008). Persistently Infected Horses Are Reservoirs for Intrastadial Tick-Borne Transmission of the Apicomplexan Parasite Babesia equi. Infect. Immun. 76: 3525-3529 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»