Publications

babesiosis in wisconsin. a new focus of disease transmission.	a confirmed case of human babesiosis was identified in august 1983 in a 54-year-old asplenic wisconsin resident. babesia microti was identified as the causative agent by blood smear morphology and hamster inoculation techniques. the patient's wife had clinically confirmed lyme disease in 1981 and had serologic evidence (immunofluorescent antibody to a b microti titer of 1:1,024) of recent babesia infection in august 1983. mice (peromyscus species) trapped on the patients' property and elsewhere ...	1985	3886942
babesiosis in wisconsin: a potentially fatal disease.	babesiosis is emerging as an important tick-borne zoonosis in the united states. most reported cases of this parasitic disease have been acquired in the northeast. to date, only two clinical cases of babesia microti infection acquired in the upper midwest have been described. we report eight more cases. most if not all of the 10 total cases probably were acquired in northwestern wisconsin. three cases (30% of 10) we now report were fatal and occurred in elderly patients (65-75 years old) who die ...	1995	7677215
cosegregation of a novel bartonella species with borrelia burgdorferi and babesia microti in peromyscus leucopus.	during surveillance for various tickborne pathogens in the upper midwest during the summer and early fall of 1995, a bartonella-like agent was detected in the blood of mice that were concurrently infected with borrelia burgdorferi or babesia microti (or both). the organism was isolated in pure culture after inoculation of blood from wild-caught mice into c.b-17 scid/scid mice. phylogenetic analysis of the 16s rrna and the citrate synthase genes showed that the novel bartonella species and a bart ...	1998	9466529
coinfection with babesia microti and borrelia burgdorferi in a western wisconsin resident.	a 68-year-old woman, who had not traveled outside of western wisconsin, was hospitalized after 4 weeks of chills, fevers, myalgias, neuralgias in her right arm, and pain in the right upper quadrant of her abdomen. physical examination revealed hepatosplenomegaly, and laboratory studies showed anemia, thrombocytopenia, increased aspartate transaminase level, and microscopic hematuria. wright's stain of a blood smear revealed intraerythrocytic organisms consistent with babesia species. a polymeras ...	1998	9559037
diversity of babesia infecting deer ticks (ixodes dammini).	to determine whether the presence of nonpathogenic piroplasms may confound field estimates of risk of babesia microti infection, we identified sporozoites infecting the salivary glands of deer ticks (ixodes dammini) by parallel microscopy and polymerase chain reaction assays. piroplasms were evident in 14.4% of adult ticks from sites in the northcentral and northeastern united states. of these, 83.3% contained dna characteristic of ba. odocoilei. this cervid piroplasm was detected in all of the ...	1998	9660456
tickborne infections as a cause of nonspecific febrile illness in wisconsin.	lyme disease, human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (hge), and babesiosis are tickborne infections that are indigenous to wisconsin. to assess their importance as a cause of nonspecific fever, we recruited patients with febrile illness at 10 clinics in northwestern wisconsin from may through august of both 1997 and 1998. eligible patients had a temperature >38.0 degrees c but no rash or other localizing source. acute and convalescent serological tests were performed for borrelia burgdorferi, babesia m ...	2001	11317244
relationship between tick bites and the seroprevalence of babesia microti and anaplasma phagocytophila (previously ehrlichia sp.) in blood donors.	tick-borne diseases, particularly babesiosis and ehrlichiosis, represent recently emerging infections. despite an increased recognition of the threat tick-borne agents pose to blood safety, our understanding of the prevalence and transmissibility of these agents in blood donors is limited.	2002	12473139
presence of borrelia burgdorferi (spirochaetales: spirochaetaceae) in southern kettle moraine state forest, wisconsin, and characterization of strain w97f51.	lyme disease, caused by borrelia burgdorferi johnson, schmidt, hyde, steigerwalt & brenner; babesiosis, caused by babesia microti franca; and human granulocytic ehrlichiosis, caused by anaplasma phagocytophilum bakken & dumler have been reported in wisconsin, mainly in the endemic areas of the northwestern part of the state. people exposed to blacklegged ticks, ixodes scapularis say, from this region can potentially contract one or all of these diseases concurrently. within the past several year ...	2005	15962800
infection and co-infection rates of anaplasma phagocytophilum variants, babesia spp., borrelia burgdorferi, and the rickettsial endosymbiont in ixodes scapularis (acari: ixodidae) from sites in indiana, maine, pennsylvania, and wisconsin.	in total, 394 questing adult blacklegged ticks, ixodes scapularis say (acari: ixodidae), collected at four sites were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (pcr) for five microbial species: anaplasma phagocytophilum, babesia microti, babesia odocoilei, borrelia burgdorferi, and the rickettsial i. scapularis endosymbiont. identities of genetic variants of a. phagocytophilum were determined by sequencing a portion of the 16s dna. in 55% of infected ticks (193/351), a single agent was detected. in ...	2008	18402145
the emergence of clinically relevant babesiosis in southwestern wisconsin.	to determine the frequency and characteristics of babesiosis cases, and to assess the impact of the introduction of a tick-borne infection diagnostic panel on babesiosis diagnosis in the region surrounding la crosse, wisconsin, where babesiosis in non-travelers was previously rare.	2015	26436184
babesiosis surveillance - wisconsin, 2001-2015.	babesiosis is an emerging zoonotic disease caused primarily by babesia microti, an intraerythocytic protozoan. babesia microti, like the causal agents for lyme disease and anaplasmosis, is endemic to the northeastern and upper midwestern united states where it is usually transmitted by the blacklegged tick, ixodes scapularis. although babesiosis is usually a mild to moderate illness, older or immunocompromised persons can develop a serious malaria-like illness that can be fatal without prompt tr ...	2017	28683059