Intraerythrocytic protozoan species of the genera Theileria

and Babesia are known to infect both wild and domestic animals, and both are transmitted by hard-ticks of the family Ixodidae ( Ristic and Kreier, 1981). Species of Theileria are cosmopolitan trans-isomer molecular weight parasites ( Chae et al., 1999) that have been detected in wild ruminants in Japan ( Inokuma et al., 2004), Germany ( Höfle et al., 2004) and South Korea ( Han et al., 2009). In the United States, the occurrence of Theileria cervi has been reported in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) ( Kocan and Kocan, 1991), elk (Cervus canadensis), mule deer (Odocoileus hemonius), Axis deer (Axis axis) and sika deer (Cerves nippon), with the distribution of the parasite being associated with the geographic distribution of the vector, namely, the tick Amblyomma americanum ( Laird et al., 1988, Waldrup et al., 1989 and Kocan and Kocan, 1991). Infection

with T. cervi is considered benign, although some clinical symptoms have been observed in cervids that have been weakened by other parasites, click here or are undernourished or stressed ( Kocan and Kocan, 1991, Fowler, 1993 and Yasbley et al., 2005). There are, however, no reports of the presence of Theileria spp. in South American cervids. The hemoparasites Babesia bigemina (Smith and Kilborne, 1893) and B. bovis (Babes, 1888) have been detected by indirect immunofluorescence (IFAT) and nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) assays in free white-tailed deer in northern Mexico ( Cantu et al., 2007).

The presence of anti-Babesia odocoilei antibodies has also been described in this cervid ( Waldrup et al., 1989 and Waldrup et al., 1992). Although the actual impact of such parasite on wild populations is not known, the occurrence of clinical manifestations has been reported in an immunosuppressed cervid ( Perry et al., 1985). Investigations of the infection of cervids Ketanserin by hemoparasites in Brazil are somewhat scarce. However, a high prevalence of Babesia spp. was reported in pampas deer (Ozotocerus bezoarticus) from the Brazilian Pantanal ( Villas-Boas et al., 2009). Additionally, Machado and Müller (1996) reported that the frequencies of B. bovis and B. bigemina in wild pampas deer from the State of Goiás were, respectively, 8.3 and 29.7%. According to serological tests, however, the prevalences of these two parasites in marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) from the Porto Primavera Hydroelectric Power Station located in Paraná River (State of Paraná, Brazil) were considerably higher, at 88.2 and 92%, respectively ( Duarte, 2007). Experimental inoculation of the grey brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira; also known as brown brocket deer or bush deer) with B. bovis or B. bigemina revealed that the former parasite is more pathogenic than the latter ( Duarte, 2006). Interestingly, antibodies against B. bovis, B. bigemina or B. odocoilei were not present in wild specimens of M.