South America

is considered to be an endemic area for Babesia spp., and especially the ruminant infecting species B. bigemina and B. bovis that cause high morbidity and mortality in cattle. However, the number of reports involving cervids affected by babesiosis in this region is somewhat small ( Deem et al., 2004, Duarte, 2006 and Villas-Boas et al., 2009) in comparison with North America where the occurrence of the disease is considerably higher ( Emerson and Wright, 1968, Waldrup et al., 1989, Waldrup et al., 1992, Holman et al., 2000, Cantu et al., 2007 and Cantu et al., 2009). The present study revealed that only two of the animals studied (9.5%) were nPCR-positive for B. bigemina or B. bovis, although 23.8% of the population were infested by R. microplus. The incidence of parasitic infection reported here is lower than values reported previously

for Brazilian cervids ( Machado and Müller, CP-868596 mw 1996, Duarte, 2007 and Villas-Boas et al., 2009). Although our sample population was rather small, the results are relevant because of the close proximity between domestic and wild ruminants ( Duarte, 2006). According to Duarte (2007), the prevalence of hemoparasites in cervids that inhabit conservation areas (implying an absence of contact with domestic ruminants) reflects the real sanitary situation VE-822 cell line of the wild population, whilst the occurrence of hemoparasites in cervids that live close to farms may be influenced by the presence of infectious agents that affect cattle. Although diagnosis of infection is normally achieved through the examination

of blood smears, this method shows poor sensitivity owing to the low level of parasitemia in animals infected with T. cervi. Furthermore, the differential diagnosis between T. cervi and B. bovis by direct blood examination is not facile even though these hemoparasites do present distinctive morphological characteristics, for example, the chromatin in Theileria trophozoites appears in the form of a cap or demilune covering the pole and extending down the sides, whereas in Babesia trophozoites it until is normally rounded or extending down one side only ( Kreier, 1977). Generally, therefore, the direct method is not reliable enough for distinguishing between these hemoparasites, and most especially when both species occur together in endemic areas. In the present study, nPCR was shown to be very sensitive and should, therefore, be employed in the laboratory analysis of blood derived from wild animals. This type of procedure will provide more consistent data for mapping the distribution of hemoparasites that affect the wild fauna of Brazil. In a population of wild and captive cervids, 71.4% of the animals were infected with hemoprotozoa, including T. cervi (47.6%), Theileria sp. (14.3%), B. bovis (4.8%) and B. bigemina (4.8%).