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Babesiosis is a tick-borne disease caused by the development of parasites of the genus Babesia in red blood cells. In humans, it is common and of moderate severity in the USA, while symptomatic babesiosis is rare in Europe, but is fatal in immunocompromised individuals. In France, the high seroprevalence in humans indicates frequent exposure to the parasite, but the actual presence of Babesia (molecular detection or isolation in in vitro culture) remains rare. Rare cases of so-called asymptomatic carriers exist, and only B. divergens, a species of bovine origin, has been detected. In a splenectomised patient, a new variant of Babesia responsible for an acute case of babesiosis was detected.

Bibliography :

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Lempereur L., Shiels B., Heyman A., Moreau E., Saegerman C., Losson B., Malandrin L. 2015. A retrospective serological survey on human babesiosis in Belgium. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 21(1):96.e91-96.e97. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmi.2014.07.004.

Becker C. A. M., Bouju-Albert A., Jouglin M., Chauvin A., Malandrin L., 2009. Natural Transmission of Zoonotic Babesia spp. by Ixodes ricinus Ticks. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 15(2):320-322. DOI: 10.3201/eid1502.081247.

Jouglin M., Perez G., Butet A., Malandrin L., Bastian S. 2017. Low prevalence of zoonotic Babesia in small mammals and Ixodes ricinus in Western France. Veterinary Parasitology, 238:58-60. DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2017.03.020.