| babesia leo n. sp. from lions in the kruger national park, south africa, and its relation to other small piroplasms. | babesia leo, a small piroplasm isolated from lions in south africa is described as a distinct species based on a phylogenetic analysis of the 18s rrna gene. intraerythrocytic trophozoite and merozoite stages of b. leo are morphologically indistinguishable from other small piroplasms of felids. previous studies showed that b. leo was biologically and antigenically distinct from b. felis, which is known to infect wild and domestic felids in south africa. molecular characterization showed strong su ... | 2001 | 11426735 |