babesia

noun

ba·​be·​sia bə-ˈbē-zh(ē-)ə 

plural babesias or babesiae bə-ˈbē-zhē-ˌē 

: any of a genus (Babesia) of sporozoans parasitic in mammalian red blood cells (as in Texas fever) and transmitted by the bite of a tick

called also piroplasm

Examples of babesia in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And while babesia has never been reported in Colorado and only once in the past five years in Montana, it had certainly been seen in other states across the U.S. Babesia microti is a parasite that, like malaria, invades red blood cells to reproduce. —New York Times, 14 Oct. 2021

There were two possibilities: babesia — a tick-borne parasite seen mainly in the Northeast and upper Midwest in the United States — or malaria, a mosquito-borne infection that is common in much of the world but not here in this country. —New York Times, 14 Oct. 2021

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from Victor Babeş †1926 Romanian bacteriologist

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

babesia

noun

ba·​be·​sia bə-ˈbē-zh(ē-)ə 

1

capitalized : the type genus of the family Babesiidae

2

plural babesias or babesiae -zhē-ˌē  : any of the sporozoans of the genus Babesia or sometimes the family Babesiidae that are parasitic in mammalian red blood cells (as in Texas fever) and are transmitted by the bite of a tick

called also piroplasm