178 THE PARASITES OF MAN 



Transcaucasia. It varies in size from i p to 2 JJL. It is transmitted by 

 Dennacentor reticulatus. 



It should be mentioned that Nuttallia equi also causes "piroplasmosis" in 

 equines, with symptoms of haemoglobinuria and jaundice in Italy, Sardinia, many 

 parts of Africa, Tianscaucasia, India, and Brazil. In Africa it is transmitted by 

 Rhipicephalus evertsi. It has been shown experimentally that a horse recovered 

 from Babesia caballi was susceptible to the inoculation of Nuttallia equi blood. 



(7) Babesia pithed (P. H. Ross) was found in a monkey, 

 Cercopithecus sp., in Uganda. The pear-shaped forms measure 1*5 /* 

 by 2-5 yu,. 



(8) Babesia inuris (Fantham) 1 was found in white rats. The 

 pyriform parasites are 2 yu, to 3 yu, long and i p to 1*5 //, broad; oval 

 forms are 0*5 to 1-5 p diameter. 



The usual symptoms of babesiasis (piroplasmosis) are high fever, 

 loss of appetite, haemoglobin uria, icterus, anaemia, paralysis, and 

 death in about a week in acute cases. In chronic cases there is 

 anaemia, and haemoglobinuria is less marked. When animals recover, 

 there are still some piroplasms left in the blood. " Recovered " or 

 " salted" animals are not susceptible to reinfection, but ticks feeding 

 on them acquire piroplasms, and are a source of danger to freshly 

 imported animals. 



Treatment. Trypan-blue is the best drug, as shown by Nut tall and Had wen* 

 (1909). It should be administered .intravenously in i to 1-5 per cent, aqueous solu- 

 tion. A dose of 5 to 10 c.c. is curative for dogs, one of 100 to 150 c.c. for horses and 

 cattle. Unfortunately, the tissues are coloured blue by the drug. The "salted" 

 animals, after trypan-blue treatment, still harbour the parasites in their blood for 

 years. 



Genus. Theileria, Bettencourt, Franqa and Borges, 1907. 



The organisms belonging to this genus are rod-like or bacilliform, and coccoid 

 or round. 



The best known of the species of Theileria is T. parva, the pathogenic agent of 

 East Coast fever or Rhodesian fever in cattle in Africa. 



Theileria parva, Theiler, 1903. 



Syn. : Piroplasma parvum. 



In the blood corpuscles of infected cattle minute rod-like and 

 oval parasites are seen. Some are comma shaped and others are 

 clubbed (fig. 92, 1-12). The rod-like forms measure i //, to 3 p in 

 length by 0*5 //, in breadth ; the oval forms are cry //, to 1*5 //, in 

 diameter. The intracorpuscular parasites are said by R. Gonder 

 (1910) to be gametocytes, the rod-like forms being thought to 

 be males, the oval forms to be females. Free parasites are practi- 

 cally never seen in the blood. It is known that it is impossible to 



1 Quart. Journ. Microsc. Set., 1, p. 493. 



2 Parasitology , ii, p. 156. 



