A PRELIMINARY REPORT OF BABESIA MICROTI IN RODENTS

Abstract

Altogether, 132 rodents of 4 species of Meriones persicus , Cricetulus migratorius, Mus muscri~ius and Allactaga dater were collected with live traps from different parts of Meshkin - shahr district from summer 1373 to autumn 1374. The purpose of this survey was to identify the parasitic fauna of rodents. Before dissection, the mammals were measured for biometric purposes. Babesia microti , seen in thin smear , were prepared from hearts’ blood in one of Meriones persicus, that was infected with Jxodidae ticks and showed local alopecia.This is the first report on the natural infection of a rodent with Babesia microti in Iran.