Babesia

Babesia (syn. Nuttallia) is a genus of parasitic protozoan that causes the disease Babesiosis. .

While more than 100 species have been reported, only a few have been identified as causing human infections. Babesia microti and Babesia divergens have been identified in most human cases but variants (considered different species) have been recently identified. One such variant is called Babesia duncani (or Babesia WA-1), described as being phylogenetically similar to Thieleria equi and the canine pathogen Babesia gibsoni. Babesia duncani does not cause disease in dogs but has shown high virulence in hamsters, and can cause symptomatic disease in humans.

Description
The protozoan responsible for causing Texas Fever was first identified in 1888 by Romanian biologist, Victor Babeş, after whom the genus and the disease it causes are named.