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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, February 2007, p. 426-431, Vol. 45, No. 2
0095-1137/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.01757-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Transovarial Transmission Efficiency of Babesia bovis Tick Stages Acquired by Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus during Acute Infection{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 24 August 2006/ Returned for modification 17 November 2006/ Accepted 4 December 2006

The protozoan parasite Babesia bovis, a reemerging threat to U.S. cattle, is acquired by adult female ticks of the subgenus Boophilus and is transovarially transmitted as the kinete stage to developing larval offspring. Sporozoites develop within larvae and are transmitted during larval feeding on a bovine host. This study evaluated the efficiency of B. bovis infection within Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus following acquisition feeding on acutely parasitemic cattle. Parasite levels were quantified in blood from experimentally infected cattle and within hemolymph and larvae derived from acquisition-fed female B. microplus. There was a positive correlation between blood parasite levels in acutely parasitemic cattle and kinete levels in the hemolymph of adult female Boophilus ticks following acquisition feeding; however, there was no relationship between kinete levels in females and infection rates of larval progeny. Boophilus microplus females that acquisition fed produced larval progeny with infection rates of 12% to 48%. Importantly, larvae derived from replete females with very low levels of kinete infection, as demonstrated by microscopy and PCR, had infection rates of 22% to 30% and transmitted B. bovis during transmission feeding. These data demonstrate that although hemolymph infection may be undetectable, transmission to larval progeny occurs at a level which ensures transmission to the bovine 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 13 December 2006.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, February 2007, p. 426-431, Vol. 45, No. 2
0095-1137/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.01757-06
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]  
  • Berens, S. J., Brayton, K. A., McElwain, T. F. (2007). Coinfection with Antigenically and Genetically Distinct Virulent Strains of Babesia bovis Is Maintained through All Phases of the Parasite Life Cycle. Infect. Immun. 75: 5769-5776 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Howell, J. M., Ueti, M. W., Palmer, G. H., Scoles, G. A., Knowles, D. P. (2007). Persistently Infected Calves as Reservoirs for Acquisition and Transovarial Transmission of Babesia bovis by Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus. J. Clin. Microbiol. 45: 3155-3159 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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