A MOUSE MODEL FOR CEREBRAL BABESIOSIS

Clinical symptoms and pathology observed in the cattle infected with B abesia bovis are quite similar to those of human cerebral malaria. Mec hanisms involved in the pathogenesis of cerebral babesiosis, however, are still poorly understood because of the lack of a suitable experime ntal animal model. In this report, Masayoshi Tsuji and his colleagues describe B. bovis infection in severe combined immuno-deficiency (SCID ) mice, whose circulating red blood cells (RBCs) have been substituted with bovine RBCs (Bo-RBC-SCID mice). The infected mice not only devel op a substantial level of parasitemia, but also show nerve symptoms an d pathology similar to those observed in infected cattle.