Non-immunologic methods of diagnosis of babesiosis

The diagnosis of tick-borne diseases such as babesiosis still depends on observing the parasite in the infected erythrocyte. Microscopic observation is tedious and often problematic in both early and carrier infections. Better diagnostic methods are needed to prevent clinical disease, especially when susceptible cattle are being moved into disease enzootic areas. This study evaluates two techniques for early diagnosis of Babesia bovis infections in cattle, DNA probes specific for the organism and fluorescent probes specific for nucleic acid. The radioisotopically labeled DNA probes are used in slot blot hybridizations with lysed blood samples, not purified DNA. Thusfar, the probe is specific for B. bovis and can detect as few as 1000 B. bovis parasites in 10 microliters of blood. The specificity of the fluorescent probe depends on the characteristic morphology of the babesia in whole blood samples, as determined microscopically. The fluorescent probe detects as few as 10,000 B. bovis parasites in 10 microliters os blood. The application of each method for laboratory and field use is discussed.