title: Fever in a visitor to Canada: a case of mistaken identity.
abstract: We report a case of babesiosis in a traveler from India who was diagnosed with malaria on the basis of blood smears. Pan-Plasmodium PCR was positive, though species-specific assays were negative. Reexamination of blood smears and Babesia-specific PCR confirmed babesiosis. We highlight the overlapping clinical and diagnostic features of malaria and babesiosis and the potential cross-reactivity of Plasmodium primers in cases of babesiosis.
authors.affiliation: Halton Healthcare Services, Oakville, Ontario, Canada Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada andrea.boggild@utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.affiliation: Public Health Ontario Laboratories, Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.affiliation: Public Health Ontario Laboratories, Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Filip
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ralevski
authors.affiliation: Halton Healthcare Services, Oakville, Ontario, Canada Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rau
authors.affiliation: Public Health Ontario Laboratories, Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Tropical Disease Unit, Division of Infectious Diseases, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Andrea K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Boggild
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001403:Babesia / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D001769:Blood / Q000469:parasitology; D002170:Canada; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine; D005334:Fever / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008853:Microscopy; D010274:Parasitology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014195:Travel