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      Entomologic and Serologic Evidence of Zoonotic Transmission of Babesia microti, Eastern Switzerland

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          Abstract

          We evaluated human risk for infection with Babesia microti at a site in eastern Switzerland where several B. microti–infected nymphal Ixodes ricinus ticks had been found. DNA from pooled nymphal ticks amplified by polymerase chain reaction was highly homologous to published B. microti sequences. More ticks carried babesial infection in the lower portion of the rectangular 0.7-ha grid than in the upper (11% vs. 0.8%). In addition, we measured seroprevalence of immunoglobulin (Ig) G antibodies against B. microti antigen in nearby residents. Serum from 1.5% of the 396 human residents of the region reacted to B. microti antigen ( >1:64), as determined by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IgG). These observations constitute the first report demonstrating B. microti in a human-biting vector, associated with evidence of human exposure to this agent in a European site.

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          Most cited references19

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          MEGA2: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis software.

          We have developed a new software package, Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis version 2 (MEGA2), for exploring and analyzing aligned DNA or protein sequences from an evolutionary perspective. MEGA2 vastly extends the capabilities of MEGA version 1 by: (1) facilitating analyses of large datasets; (2) enabling creation and analyses of groups of sequences; (3) enabling specification of domains and genes; (4) expanding the repertoire of statistical methods for molecular evolutionary studies; and (5) adding new modules for visual representation of input data and output results on the Microsoft Windows platform. http://www.megasoftware.net. s.kumar@asu.edu
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            Detection of Babesia microti by polymerase chain reaction.

            Human babesiosis, which is caused by infection with the intraerythrocytic malarialike protozoan Babesia microti, has recently been diagnosed with increasing frequency in residents of New England. Diagnosis is difficult because of the small size of the parasite and the sparse parasitemia that is characteristic of most infections with this pathogen. We generated B. microti-specific DNA sequence information by universal primer amplification of a portion of the eukaryotic 16S-like gene; this was followed by direct DNA sequence analysis. Specific primers were synthesized on the basis of this sequence information for use in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR-based system demonstrates a strong bias for detection of B. microti as opposed to Babesia gibsoni and does not amplify vertebrate DNA. The analytical sensitivity of the system is approximately three merozoites. Blood specimens from 12 patients with clinically diagnosed and parasitologically confirmed babesiosis from Nantucket Island, Mass., were PCR positive in a blinded test of this procedure. Thus, DNA amplification may provide an adjunct to conventional methods for the diagnosis of human babesiosis and may provide a new means of monitoring therapy or enhancing epidemiological surveillance for this emerging pathogen.
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              The emergence of Lyme disease and human babesiosis in a changing environment.

              This pattern of spread of Lyme disease and its vectors in the northeastern United States and Europe derives from the recent proliferation of deer, and the abundance of deer derives from the process of reforestation now taking place throughout the North Temperate Zone of the world. Residential development seems to favor small tree-enclosed meadows interspersed with strips of woodland, a "patchiness" much prized by deer, mice, and humans. As a result, increasingly large numbers of people live where risk of Lyme disease and babesiosis is intense. The agents of these infections, that once were transmitted enzootically by an exclusively rodent-feeding vector, have become zoonotic.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Emerg Infect Dis
                Emerging Infect. Dis
                EID
                Emerging Infectious Diseases
                Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
                1080-6040
                1080-6059
                July 2002
                : 8
                : 7
                : 722-726
                Affiliations
                [* ]Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
                []Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
                []Université de Neuchâtel, Institut de Zoologie, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
                [§ ]Kantonsspital, Blutspendezentrum, Chur, Switzerland
                Author notes
                Address for correspondence: Ivo M. Foppa , Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Norman J. Arnold School of Public Health, 800 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC 29208, USA; fax: 803-777-2524; e-mail: ifoppa@ 123456sc.edu
                Article
                01-0459
                10.3201/eid0807.010459
                3369589
                12095442
                3a6a626c-ff26-4529-b0b9-b4e6187c3612
                History
                Categories
                Research
                Research

                Infectious disease & Microbiology
                human babesiosis,europe,ixodes ricinus,babesia microti
                Infectious disease & Microbiology
                human babesiosis, europe, ixodes ricinus, babesia microti

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