THE PIROPLASIVL^SIDA 



303 



Immunity : Dogs which are immune to 

 B. canis are still susceptible to B. gibsoiii. 



Treatment : Neither trypan blue nor 

 acaprin is effective against B. gibsoni. 

 Treatment with arsenicals such as novar- 

 senobillon or tryparsamide has been sug- 

 gested, but they are apparently not too 

 satisfactory. 



BABESIA FELIS 

 DAVIS, 1929 



Synonyms : Babesiella felis, Nut- 

 tallia felis var. duDieslica. 



Hosts : Domestic cat, wild cat (Felis 

 lybica), puma (F. co)icolor), lion {F. led), 

 American lynx {Lynx ntfiis), Indian leop- 

 ard (Paiithera pardiis ). 



Location : Erythrocytes. 



Geographic Distribution : Africa, 

 India, ? North America (California). 

 This species was first found in a wild cat 

 in the Sudan and has since been found in 

 domestic cats in India and South Africa, 

 in the lion in the French Sudan and in the 

 Indian leopard. In addition, it was found 

 in 2 pumas imported into Egypt from Cal- 

 ifornia and in an American lynx in the 

 London zoo. It has not been found in an- 

 imals still in North America, so its ex- 

 istence on this continent is still proble- 

 matical. 



Morphology: This is a small form. 

 Most of the trophozoites are round or ir- 

 regularly round and 1. 5 to 2(j, in diameter. 

 Some are elongate and 2 to 3, or rarely 

 4jj, long. Piriform trophozoites are rare. 

 Division is quadruple, forming a cruciform 

 schizont, or binary. 



Life Cycle : The vectors are unknown, 

 altho Hae>napliysalis leaclii has been in- 

 criminated in South Africa, 



Pathogenesis : Feline babesiosis is 

 less severe than the canine disease, and 

 affected animals usually recover without 

 treatment. It is characterized by anemia, 

 slow respiration, somnolence, listless- 

 ness, emaciation, constipation with yel- 



low or orange feces, splenomegaly, and 

 sometimes icterus and hemoglobinuria. 



Treatment : Both trypan blue and 

 acaprin are effective against B. felis. 



Genus AEGYPTIANELLA 

 Carpono, 1928 



This genus contains small, round, 

 oval or piriform parasites of the erythro- 

 cytes of birds. The host cell is not de- 

 formed. Schizogony occurs in the ery- 

 throcytes, with the formation of 4 to 16 or 

 20 merozoites. Laird and Lari (1957) 

 have questioned the justification for separ- 

 ating this genus from Babesia, but for the 

 present it is probably best to do so. 



AEGYPTIANELLA PULLORUM 

 CARPANO, 1928 



Synonyms: Balfouria galUnarum. , 

 Balfouria anserina. 



Disease : Aegyptianellosis, avian 

 piroplasmosis. 



Hosts : Chicken, goose, duck, tur- 

 key. This species has been transmitted 

 experimentally to the turtle dove, ring- 

 dove, crowned crane, quail, pigeon, 

 canary and other birds (Curasson, 1943). 

 The chicken is probably the most impor- 

 tant host. 



Location: Erythrocytes. 



Geographic Distribution : North 

 Africa, South Africa, Indochina, India, 

 USSR (Transcaucasia), southeast Europe. 



Morphology: The trophozoites are 

 usually small, ranging in size from 0. 5 

 to 3 or even 4|u , depending upon the stage 

 of development. They are round, oval or 

 piriform, sometimes with a vacuole. 

 They multiply by schizogony, producing 

 a variable number — up to 20--of very 

 small merozoites. 



Life Cycle : The natural vector is 

 the fowl tick, Argas Persians . Trans- 

 mission does not take place either thru 

 the egg or stage -to -stage. After the 



