Fig. 1

Life cycle of Babesia bovis. Babesia bovis has two main phases: A The sexual cycle takes place in the tick host. The sexual cycle of B. bovis is initiated when a tick ingests gametocytes of the parasite during its blood meal on a mammalian host. Following ingestion, the gametocytes differentiate into male and female gametes within the tick's gut, which fuse to form a zygote. The zygote develops into an ookinete that migrates to the tick's salivary glands as a kinete, where it may be transmitted to a new vertebrate host during tick feeding. Kinetes gain access to the hemolymph of the tick, replicate, and invade various organs. Additionally, transovarial transmission of B. bovis can also occur within the tick. Subsequently, the kinetes develop into invasive sporozoites, which are transmitted by the tick to a new vertebrate host during a blood meal. B The asexual cycle occurs in the mammalian (vertebrate) host. During the asexual cycle of B. bovis, the sporozoites invade the red blood cells (RBCs) of the bovine host and develop into trophozoites and divide by binary fission, resulting in the formation of merozoites. These merozoites continue to proliferate, developing into trophozoites and eventually give rise to new merozoites. Within the RBCs, certain merozoites undergo differentiation into male and female gametocytes, which remain within the RBCs of the bovine host. These gametocytes are then acquired by ticks during their feeding process