Malevolent Design News - A New Batch of Tick-Borne, Malaria-Like Parasites is Spreading in USA

Malevolent Design News

A New Batch of Tick-Borne, Malaria-Like Parasites is Spreading in USA

The tick that spreads babesiosis is called Dermacentor albipictus. Photo shows female (left) and male adults.

Photo: U. Wisconsin/Susan Paskewitz)

Winter tick, Dermacentor albipictus

Credit: Mat Pound, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bugwood.org

Researchers warn of tick-borne disease babesiosis | News

Creationism's divine malevolence has been busy creating more ways to make people sick, and very cleverly, it has included new classes of multigene families that enable it to evade the human immune system; the immune system the same designer allegedly designed to protect us from the parasites it creates to make us sick - if you believe in magic creation, that is.

The new batch of parasites are species of the genus Babesia which cause babesiosis in humans.

Babesiosis is a tick-borne parasitic infection caused by protozoa of the genus Babesia. It is considered an emerging disease and is most commonly found in the northeastern and upper midwestern regions of the United States. Babesiosis can range from a mild illness to a severe and life-threatening disease, particularly in people who are immunocompromised or have underlying health conditions.

Symptoms of babesiosis can include fever, fatigue, chills, sweating, headache, muscle aches, nausea, and vomiting. In severe cases, complications such as hemolytic anemia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and organ failure can occur. Babesiosis can also be asymptomatic or subclinical, especially in people with intact immune systems.

Diagnosis of babesiosis is usually made by detecting the parasites in a blood smear, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), or serological testing. Treatment typically involves a combination of antibiotics, such as atovaquone and azithromycin, or clindamycin and quinine, for a period of 7-10 days. In severe cases, hospitalization may be necessary for supportive care and close monitoring.

Prevention of babesiosis involves taking measures to avoid tick bites, such as wearing protective clothing, using insect repellent, and performing tick checks after being outdoors. Tick control measures, such as landscaping practices and the use of acaricides, can also be effective in reducing tick populations in endemic areas.

References:

1. Vannier E, Krause PJ. Human babesiosis. N Engl J Med. 2012;366(25):2397-2407. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra1202018
2. White DJ, Talarico J, Chang HG, et al. Human babesiosis in New York State: review of 139 hospitalized cases and analysis of prognostic factors. Arch Intern Med. 1998;158(19):2149-2154. doi: 10.1001/archinte.158.19.2149
3. Krause PJ, Gewurz BE, Hill D, et al. Persistent and relapsing babesiosis in immunocompromised patients. Clin Infect Dis. 2008;46(3):370-376. doi: 10.1086/525852

ChatGPT. (19 Apr 2023). Tell me what you know about babesiosis in humans, with references, please. [Response to a user question].
Retrieved from https://chat.openai.com/

So far, the species which are known to cause babesiosis in humans are B. microti, B. duncani, and a B. divergens-like species.

Now a team of researchers at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) have succeeded in analyzing the genome of B. duncani and determined its 3D structure.

As the UCR news release explains:

Now a research team led by scientists at the University of California, Riverside, and Yale University reports the first high-quality nuclear genome sequence and assembly of the pathogen B. duncani. The team also determined the 3D genome structure of this pathogen that resembles Plasmodium falciparum, the malaria-causing parasite.

Our data analysis revealed that the parasite has evolved new classes of multigene families, allowing the parasite to avoid the host immune response.

By mining the genome and developing in vitro drug efficacy studies, we identified excellent inhibitors of the development of this parasite — a pipeline of small molecules, such as pyrimethamine, that could be developed as effective therapies for treating and better managing human babesiosis,” Le Roch said. “Far more scientific and medical attention has been paid to B. microti. The genome structure of B. duncani, a neglected species until now, will provide scientists with important insights into the biology, evolution, and drug susceptibility of the pathogen.

Professor Karine Le Roch, co-corresponding author
Professor of molecular, cell and systems biology
UC Riverside, CA, USA.

According to Le Roch, who directs the UCR Center for Infectious Disease Vector Research, the study, published today in Nature Microbiology, not only identifies the molecular mechanism most likely leading to the parasite’s pathogenicity and virulence, but also provides leads for the development of more effective therapies.

The figure illustrates the 3D genome structure of B. duncani. Yellow, green, light blue, purple, and pink are the five chromosomes of B. duncani. Dark blue shows the centromeres of the chromosomes. Red are the telomeres of the chromosomes. Observe that telomeres and centromeres are in close proximity.

Credit: UCR/Todd Lenz/Le Roch lab

Human babesiosis caused by Babesia duncani is an emerging infectious disease in the U.S. and is often undetected because healthy individuals do not usually show symptoms. It has, however, been associated with high parasite burden, severe pathology, and death in multiple cases. Despite the highly virulent properties of B. duncani, little was known about its biology, evolution, and mechanism of virulence, and recommended treatments for human babesiosis against B. duncani are largely ineffective.

A strong immune system is required to fight the pathogen. A compromised immune system could lead to flu-like illness. The tick that spreads babesiosis is mostly found in wooded or grassy areas and is the same tick that transmits bacteria responsible for Lyme disease. As a result, around 20% of patients with babesiosis are co-infected with Lyme disease.

B. duncani mostly infects deer, which serve as the reservoir host during the pathogen’s asexual development. The parasite’s sexual cycle occurs in the tick after the tick bites the infected deer. When this tick bites humans, infection begins. The full life cycle of Babesia parasites has not yet been determined. The tick that spreads babesiosis, called Dermacentor albipictus, lives longer than mosquitoes and could facilitate a long life cycle for B. duncani.

Even though scientists are discovering more Babesia species, diagnostics are mostly developed for B. microti. Le Roch is already working with Stefano Lonardi, a professor of computer science and engineering at UCR and co-first author of the study, on new Babesia strains that have evolved.

Coauthors (from left to right) of the research paper include Loic Ciampossin, Karine Le Roch, Stefano Lonardi, and Sakshar Chakravarty. Ciampossin is a graduate student working with Le Roch. Chakravarty is a graduate student working with Lonardi.

Photo: UCR/I. Pittalwala

The Babesia genomes are not very long, but they are challenging to assemble due to their highly repetitive content and can require years of research. Once the genome is assembled and annotated, it can provide valuable information, such as how the genes are organized, which genes are transcribed during infection, and how the pathogen avoids the host’s immune system.

Professor Stefano Lonardi, co-first and co-corresponding author
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
University of California, Riverside, CA, USA

In older and immunocompromised people, if B. duncani is left unattended, babesiosis could worsen and lead to death. Once the pathogen enters the body and red blood cells start to get destroyed, fever, headache, and nausea can follow. People who get bitten by the ticks often don’t feel the bite, which complicates diagnosis. Skin manifestations of babesiosis are rare, Lonardi said, and difficult to separate from Lyme disease.

Check yourself for tick bites. When you see your physician don’t forget to let them know you go hiking. Most physicians are aware of Lyme disease but not of babesiosis.

Professor Karine Le Roch.

Le Roch and Lonardi urge people to be mindful of ticks when they go hiking.

Next the team plans to study how B. duncani survives in the tick and find novel vector control strategies to kill the parasite in the tick.

Copyright: © 2023 The authors.
Published by Springer Nature Ltd. Open access. (CC BY 4.0)

More detail is given in the team's open access paper in Nature Microbiology:

Abstract

Babesiosis is a malaria-like disease in humans and animals that is caused by Babesia species, which are tick-transmitted apicomplexan pathogens. Babesia duncani causes severe to lethal infection in humans, but despite the risk that this parasite poses as an emerging pathogen, little is known about its biology, metabolic requirements or pathogenesis. Unlike other apicomplexan parasites that infect red blood cells, B. duncani can be continuously cultured in vitro in human erythrocytes and can infect mice resulting in fulminant babesiosis and death. We report comprehensive, detailed molecular, genomic, transcriptomic and epigenetic analyses to gain insights into the biology of B. duncani. We completed the assembly, 3D structure and annotation of its nuclear genome, and analysed its transcriptomic and epigenetics profiles during its asexual life cycle stages in human erythrocytes. We used RNA-seq data to produce an atlas of parasite metabolism during its intraerythrocytic life cycle. Characterization of the B. duncani genome, epigenome and transcriptome identified classes of candidate virulence factors, antigens for diagnosis of active infection and several attractive drug targets. Furthermore, metabolic reconstitutions from genome annotation and in vitro efficacy studies identified antifolates, pyrimethamine and WR-99210 as potent inhibitors of B. duncani to establish a pipeline of small molecules that could be developed as effective therapies for the treatment of human babesiosis.

Singh, P., Lonardi, S., Liang, Q. et al.
Babesia duncani multi-omics identifies virulence factors and drug targets.
Nat Microbiol (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-023-01360-8

Copyright: © 2023 The authors.
Published by Springer Nature Ltd. Open access
Reprinted under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0)

So, that's something for creationists to look forward to now their divine malevolence's earlier triumph with its SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 is waning. And don't forget it still has a few other nasties up its sleeve - Ebola, Marburg, Zika, etc., while it works on an even more virulent variant of SARS-CoV-2, which is far from over yet.

The 2020's is looking like a particularly triumphant decade for the divine sadist's efforts to make its creation suffer.</sarcasm>

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