Molecular Characterization of a Non–Babesia divergens Organism Causing Zoonotic Babesiosis in Europe

• Main Authors: Barbara L. Herwaldt, Simone Cacciò, Filippo Gherlinzoni, Horst Aspöck, Susan B. Slemenda, PierPaolo Piccaluga, Giovanni Martinelli, Renate Edelhofer, Ursula Hollenstein, Giovanni Poletti, Silvio Pampiglione, Karin Löschenberger, Sante Tura, Norman J. Pieniazek
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2003-08-01
• Series: Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Subjects: 18S rRNA gene; Austria; Babesia divergens; Babesia odocoilei; Babesia venatorum; babesiosis
• Online Access: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/9/8/02-0748_article

In Europe, most reported human cases of babesiosis have been attributed, without strong molecular evidence, to infection with the bovine parasite Babesia divergens. We investigated the first known human cases of babesiosis in Italy and Austria, which occurred in two asplenic men. The complete 18S ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) gene was amplified from specimens of their whole blood by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). With phylogenetic analysis, we compared the DNA sequences of the PCR products with those for other Babesia spp. The DNA sequences were identical for the organism from the two patients. In phylogenetic analysis, the organism clusters with B. odocoilei, a parasite of white-tailed deer; these two organisms form a sister group with B. divergens. This evidence indicates the patients were not infected with B. divergens but with an organism with previously unreported molecular characteristics for the 18S rRNA gene.