History The disease is named for the genus of the causative organism, which was named after the Romanian bacteriologist Victor Babeș. In 1888, Victor Babeș identified the microorganisms in red blood cells as the cause of febrile hemoglobinuria in cattle. In 1893, Theobald Smith and Frederick Kilborne discovered that a tick was the vector for transmission in Texas cattle. The agent was B. bigemina. This was the first demonstration that an arthropod could act as a disease vector to transmit an infectious agent to a vertebrate host. In 1957, the first human case was documented in a splenectomized Croatian herdsman. The agent was B. divergens. In 1969, the first case was reported in an immunocompetent individual on Nantucket Island. The agent was B. microti, and the vector was the tick I. scapularis. Equine babesiosis (caused by the protozoan Theileria equi) is also known as piroplasmosis (from the Latin piro, meaning pear + Greek plasma, a thing formed). Other animals Veterinary treatment of babesiosis does not normally use antibiotics. In livestock and animals, diminazen (Berenil), imidocarb, or trypan blue would be the drugs of choice for treatment of B. canis rossi (dogs in Africa), B. bovis, and B. bigemina (cattle in Southern Africa). In acute cases in cattle, blood transfusion may be carried out.A vaccine is effective against B. canis canis (dogs in the Mediterranean region), but is ineffective against B. c. rossi. B. imitans causes a mild form of the disease that frequently resolves without treatment (dogs in Southeast Asia). References External links Public domain source from which the first version of this article was derived. "Babesiosis: Overview"—The Merck Veterinary Manual Current status of Equine piroplasmosis worldwide at OIE. WAHID Interface—OIE World Animal Health Information Database Disease card—OIE Babesia Protozoal diseases Tick-borne diseases Zoonoses