Researchers at the Institute for Genomic Research in Maryland, known as TIGR, led the decoding of the genome of the Theileria parva parasite to produce its genetic blueprint.
Measuring 8.2 million base pairs, its genome is remarkably similar to the genome of " Theileria parva ", the cause of East Coast fever ( theileriosis ) in cattle.
There, surprisingly, they caused no disease when introduced to healthy cattle, leading to the discovery that the disease was not Redwater, but a new protozoan parasite East Coast fever or " Theileria parva " transmitted by the tick " Rhipicephalus appendiculatus ".