from sandra smith, southern extention

July 24, 1999

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, June 1999, p. 2051-2052, Vol. 37, No. 6

0095-1137/99/$04.00+0

Southern Extension of the Range of Human

Babesiosis in the Eastern United States

Eugene S. Eskow,1 J. Krause,2,* Spielman,3 Kathy Freeman,2 and

Jaber Aslanzadeh2

403 Highway 202, Flemington, New Jersey,1 The University of Connecticut,

Farmington, Connecticut,2 and the Harvard

School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts3

Received 19 January 1999/Returned for modification 2 February 1999/Accepted

1 March 1999

We sought evidence of babesiosis in three residents of New Jersey who were

suspected of local acquisition of Babesia microti

infection. We tested serial blood samples from these residents for B.

microti antibodies and amplifiable DNA by using

immunofluorescent antibody and PCR techniques. All three residents

experienced symptoms suggestive of acute babesiosis.

The sera of each of the patients reacted against babesial antigen at a titer

fourfold or higher in sequentially collected blood

samples. PCR-amplifiable DNA, characteristic of B. microti, was detected in

their blood. These data suggest that human

B. microti infections were acquired recently in New Jersey, extending the

range of this piroplasmosis in the northeastern United

States.

* Corresponding author. Present address: Connecticut Children's Medical

Center, 282 Washington St., Hartford, CT

06106. Phone: (860) 545-9490. Fax: (860) 545-9371. E-mail:

PKRAUSE@....

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, June 1999, p. 2051-2052, Vol. 37, No. 6

0095-1137/99/$04.00+0

reserved.

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