Excerpt:

The present study describes the only deer
piroplasm detected so far that shows complete identity with B. divergens, in
just over half of the 18S rRNA gene. The entire gene of this deer parasite
should be analysed and transmission experiments undertaken before the
infectivity of B. divergens for red deer can be confirmed.

 

Link: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=21314977&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3037898/?tool=pubmed

Excerpt:

ABSTRACT: Blood samples were obtained from 38 wild red deer (Cervus 
elaphus) at two sites in Ireland and subjected to PCR analysis of the 
18S rRNA gene followed by sequencing. Two fragments of the 18S rRNA gene 
were generated by two different PCR protocols and subsequent sequencing 
suggested that at least six of the deer were infected by a babesia that, 
in those loci, is indistinguishable from Babesia divergens, an important 
tick-borne pathogen of cattle and of zoonotic significance.