Abstract
INFECTION with protozoan parasites may interfere with the immune response to a variety of agents including bacteria1, other protozoans2–5 and helminths6–8. In two recent studies of immunosuppression by a rodent piroplasm8,9, the likely, veterinary importance of the effect was suggested. We have now verified this possibility by showing that Babesia bovis, a pathogenic piroplasm of cattle causes immunosuppression against its natural tick vector, Boophilus microplus. The observation seems to be the first of immunosuppression caused by a protozoan against a parasitic arthropod.
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CALLOW, L., STEWART, N. Immunosuppression by Babesia bovis against its tick vector, Boophilus microplus. Nature 272, 818–819 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/272818a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/272818a0
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