Bovine Babesiosis: Useful Diagnostic Tools for the Identification of Cattle Persistently Infected: An Update

The objetive of this chapteris to describe an update of the main diagnostic techniques, that allow for the identification of persistently infected cattle that remain as asymptomatic carriers of Babesia spp.

Bovine babesiosis is a parasitic disease caused by intraerythrocytic protozoan organisms of the genus Babesia. The most important species that affect cattle are Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina and Babesia divergens. Various techniques have been implemented to diagnose bovine babesiosis, usually the first choice is the thin or thick blood Giemsa-stained smear to microscopically demonstrate the presence of parasites as etiology of the clinical symptoms. Babesial infections are difficult to detect because of the low number of parasites in peripheral blood. Therefore, DNA-based molecular methods have been developed with great advantages, such as high analytical sensitivity and specificity rates. As an alternative, indirect serological assays can be used to check animals with persistent infections for particular antibabesial antibodies. Serological techniques have the drawback of presenting with cross responses between antibodies to Babesia sp. and are not always reliable in identifying animals that are persistently infected.