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Status Update On The Threat Of Babesiosis Returning To The United States, Jason Tidwell, Christopher Vitek, Donald B. Thomas, John M. Thomas

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Babesiosis is a hemolytic disease caused by protozoan parasites in the genus Babesia, transmitted through the saliva of infected ticks. The most economically important species, Babesia bigemina and B. bovis, infect cattle and are the etiological agents of bovine babesiosis. In the southern United States, eradication efforts directed against the tick vectors, Boophilus spp., began in the early 1900s. A quarantine zone in south Texas along the US/Mexico border was subsequently established following the eradication of the disease in the US. The permanent quarantine zone, spanning approximately 33% of the total shared border between Texas and Mexico, has helped limit …