# Help id this parasitic condition

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-parasitic-condition/558097>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 23, 2010, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-parasitic-condition/558097 "2010-10-23T13:32:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-parasitic-condition/558097/1 "2010-10-23T13:32:16Z")

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Not me. I saw this on a documentary recently. I’ll spell it as close to phonetically as my ears heard it: la-BEE-zee-osis. I’ve tried several variations on the spelling, but haven’t come up with anything meaningful.

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**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-parasitic-condition/558097/2 "2010-10-23T13:46:34Z")

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Could it be _babesiosis_?

> [@](#):
>
> An important Piroplasm found in cattle, with related species in other vertebrates is Babesia, it causes a serious disease called babesiosis that can be fatal.

It seems to be a disease of cattle, carried by ticks but sometimes seen in humans:

> [@](#):
>
> In Europe there have been a number of cases of cattle Babesia in humans, but always in people who have had their spleens removed - frequently fatal infection.

From [here](http://www.aber.ac.uk/~mpgwww/Edu/ParProto/ProtoTxt.html).

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-parasitic-condition/558097/3 "2010-10-23T13:49:06Z")

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That’s probably it. Thanks.

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**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-parasitic-condition/558097/4 "2010-10-23T16:24:43Z")

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It’s actually not all that rare in the region around Martha’s Vineyard. In recent years, transfusion-acquired babesiosis has also become a concern.

[Here’s more than you’ll want](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2734943/) (or need) to know about human babesiosis.

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**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-this-parasitic-condition/558097/5 "2010-10-23T23:07:00Z")

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It’s not at all the same thing as babesosis, which is a pathological infestation of babes.