298 



THE PIROPLASMASIDA 



Life Cycle : Unknown. 



Pathogenesis : According to Sarwar 

 (1935), this species is probably pathogenic. 

 Hemoglobinuria is not produced, however. 



BABESIA CABALLI 

 (NUTTALL, 1910) 



Synonym : Piroplasnia caballi. 



Hosts : Horse; transmissible to mule 

 and donkey. 



Location : Erythrocytes. 



Geographic Distribution : Southern 

 Europe thru Asia, USSR, North and South 

 Africa, Central America. 



Morphology : This is a large species, 

 resembling B. bigemina. The tropho- 

 zoites are piriform and 2. 5 to 4)Lt long, 

 or round or oval and 1. 5 to 3|i in diam- 

 eter. The piriform trophozoites are 

 often found in pairs at an acute angle to 

 each other. 



Life Cycle : Similar to that of B. 

 bigemina. The vectors in Europe and the 

 USSR are Deniiacentor Diarginatiis (syn. , 

 D. reliculalus), D. pictus, D. silvariwi, 

 Hyalomma anatolicum (syn. , H. exca- 

 valuni), H. niarginatimi (syn. , H. de- 

 trilmii), H. volgense, Rliipiceplialiis 

 bursa and R. sanguineus. The vector in 

 North Africa is H\'alot}U)ia droinedarii. 

 Transmission thru the egg occurs in D. 

 marginatus, D. silvarum, H. margina- 

 tum, H. volgense, R. sanguineus and H. 

 dromedarii. Stage-to-stage transmission 

 occurs in D. margiimtus, D. pictus, H. 

 anatolicutn, H. marginatum, R. bursa 

 and R. sanguineus . 



B. caballi has also been found in 

 fetuses (Neitz, 1956). 



Pathogenesis : The symptomatology 

 of this disease varies markedly. The 

 disease may be either acute or chronic; 

 in either case it may be relatively mild 

 or severe, ending in death. Hemoglob- 

 inuria is rare, but fever, anemia and 



icterus are present. Gastro-enteritis is 

 common. Locomotor signs are usually 

 present, and posterior paralysis may 

 occur. The incubation period is 7 to 19 

 days. In fatal cases death occurs a week 

 to about a month after the appearance of 

 symptoms. 



Immunity: Young animals are less 

 susceptible than old ones. There is no 

 cross-immunity between B. caballi and 

 B. equi. 



Diagnosis : Because of the varied 

 symptomatology, diagnosis depends upon 

 identification of the parasites in stained 

 blood smears. They are most numerous 

 in the blood during the first febrile attack. 



Treatment : Trypan blue is quite ef- 

 fective against B. caballi, but acaprin and 

 acriflavine are better. Trypan blue is 

 given intravenously, 50 to 75 ml of a 1% 

 aqueous solution being injected. Acaprin 

 is given subcutaneously, 1.2 ml of a 5% 

 solution being injected per 100 kg. Acri- 

 flavine is injected intravenously, 20 ml of 

 a 5% solution being given. 



Prevention and Control: Same as for 

 B. bigemina. 



BABESIA EQUI 

 (LAVERAN, 1901) 



Synonyms : Piroplasma equi, Nut- 

 tallia equi, Nuttallia asini, ? Nuttallia 

 f)iinor. 



Hosts : Horse, mule, donkey, Bur- 

 chell's zebra (Equus burchelli). 



Location : Erythrocytes. 



Geographic Distribution : Europe, 

 USSR, Central Asia, North and South 

 Africa, India, South America. This spe- 

 cies is more widely distributed than B. 

 caballi. 



Morphology: 

 tively small 



This species is rela- 

 5eing 2\x long. The tropho- 



zoites in the erythrocytes are rounded, 

 amoeboid or most often pear-shaped. 



