Detection of new Babesia microti-like parasites in a rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) with a suppressed Plasmodium cynomolgi infection.

A new type of piroplasm, phylogenetically closest to Babesia microti-like parasites previously detected in Eurasian red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris orientis), was identified in a rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) imported from China. After challenge with Plasmodium cynomolgi M strain blood-stage parasites, the rhesus monkey repeatedly showed markedly reduced levels of Plasmodium parasitemia when compared with animals not infected with this organism.