Ability of the vector tick Boophilus microplus to acquire and transmit Babesia equi following feeding on chronically infected horses with low-level parasitemia.
Abstract: The protozoan parasite Babesia equi replicates within erythrocytes. During the acute phase of infection, B. equi can reach high levels of parasitemia, resulting in a hemolytic crisis. Horses that recover from the acute phase of the disease remain chronically infected. Subsequent transmission is dependent upon the ability of vector ticks to acquire B. equi and, following development and replication, establishment of B. equi in the salivary glands. Although restriction of the movement of chronically infected horses with B. equi is based on the presumption that ticks can acquire and transmit the parasite at low levels of long-term infection, parasitemia levels during the chronic phase of infection have never been quantified, nor has transmission been demonstrated. To address these epidemiologically significant questions, we established long-term B. equi infections (>1 year), measured parasitemia levels over time, and tested whether nymphal Boophilus microplus ticks could acquire and, after molting to the adult stage, transmit B. equi to naive horses. B. equi levels during the chronic phase of infection ranged from 10(3.3) to 10(6.0)/ml of blood, with fluctuation over time within individual horses. B. microplus ticks fed on chronically infected horses with mean parasite levels of 10(5.5) +/- 10(0.48)/ml of blood acquired B. equi, with detection of B. equi in the salivary glands of 7 to 50% of fed ticks, a range encompassing the percentage of positive ticks that had been identically fed on a horse in the acute phase of infection with high parasitemia levels. Ticks that acquired B. equi from chronically infected horses, as well as those fed during the acute phase of infection, successfully transmitted the parasite to naive horses. The results unequivocally demonstrated that chronically infected horses with low-level parasitemia are competent mammalian reservoirs for tick transmission of B. equi.
Publication Date: 2005-08-06 PubMed ID: 16081906PubMed Central: PMC1233951DOI: 10.1128/JCM.43.8.3755-3759.2005Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Non-P.H.S.
Summary
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The research investigated the ability of tick Boophilus microplus to pick up and transmit Babesia equi, a protozoan parasite, after feeding on horses which were suffering from low-level, long-term infection of the same parasite. This study concluded that these ticks can effectively transfer the parasite from chronically infected horses to unaffected ones.
Study Design
- The research was designed to fill the knowledge gap regarding the parasitemia levels (the level of parasites in blood) during the chronic phase of B. equi infection in horses.
- The researchers established long-term (>1 year) B. equi infections in horses, measured parasitemia levels over time, and examined if nymph-stage B. microplus ticks feeding on those horses could acquire and spread the disease to other horses.
Measurements and Findings
- The study showed that B. equi levels during the chronic phase fluctuated within horses, with an identified range from 10(3.3) to 10(6.0)/ml of blood.
- When B. microplus ticks fed on these chronic horses, they managed to acquire B. equi. The parasite was detected in the salivary glands of 7-50% of ticks, which spanned the range of earlier observed infection rates in ticks fed on horses suffering from high parasitemia during the acute phase.
Significance of Findings
- This paper clearly demonstrated that horses with a long-term, low-level infection can act as competent hosts for ticks to acquire and subsequently transmit the B. equi parasite.
- The findings are substantial, as restrictions put on the movement of chronically infected horses are based on the belief that ticks can pick up and transmit the parasite even at low-long term infection levels.
Conclusion
- The study’s results confirm that the tick species Boophilus microplus can effectively transmit the protozoan parasite Babesia equi from chronically infected horses to uninfected ones, regardless of the parasitemia levels in the host horses.
Cite This Article
APA
Ueti MW, Palmer GH, Kappmeyer LS, Statdfield M, Scoles GA, Knowles DP.
(2005).
Ability of the vector tick Boophilus microplus to acquire and transmit Babesia equi following feeding on chronically infected horses with low-level parasitemia.
J Clin Microbiol, 43(8), 3755-3759.
https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.43.8.3755-3759.2005 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Program in Vector-Borne Diseases, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-7040, USA. massaro@vetmed.wsu.edu
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Arthropod Vectors / parasitology
- Babesiosis / transmission
- Babesiosis / veterinary
- Chronic Disease
- Horse Diseases / transmission
- Horses
- Parasitemia / transmission
- Polymerase Chain Reaction
- Ticks / parasitology
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