First Report of Positive Serological Response to the Hemoparasite, Babesia caballi, in Mountain Tapir

Abstract

Six mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) were captured and fitted with Iridium / GPS collars for ecological research in Cayambe National Park, Ecuador. One of the wild tapirs captured in this study, named Dante, tested positive results for antibodies specific to the Babesia caballi, identified by Laboratorios Livex (Quito, Ecuador). This is the first report of positive serological response to this hemoparasite in the blood of this tapir species. This hemoparasite could have been transmitted by one of a great diversity of tick species identified by Pesquera et al. (2013) in the study area. It appears that Dante overcame the piroplasmosis caused by this hemoparasite and apparently has maintained a healthy condition; his movements were monitored for 259 days after taking the blood sample. A rescued semi captive mountain tapir calf, named Leo, in the Antisana Ecological Reserve  was found to be infected with Babesia sp. hemoparasites. A second examination confirmed this infection and also identified the presence of Anaplasma sp. The University of Chiapas veterinarian Dr. Dario Marcelino Güiris (pers comm), however, believes that the diagnosis of anaplasmosis could actually be the presence of Howell-Jolly bodies in the bloodstream, for which he has recommended further analysis for confirmation.