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Theileria parva is the causative agent of Corridor disease in cattle in South Africa. The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is the reservoir host, and, as these animals are important for eco-tourism in South Africa, it is compulsory to test and certify them disease free prior to translocation. A T. parva-specific real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test based on the small subunit ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) gene is one of the tests used for the diagnosis of the parasite in buffalo and cattle in South Africa. However, because of the high similarity between the 18S rRNA gene sequences of T. parva and Theileria sp. (buffalo), the latter is also amplified by the real-time PCR primers, although it is not detected by the T. parva-specific hybridization probes. Preliminary sequencing studies have revealed a small number of sequence differences within the 18S rRNA gene in both species but the extent of this sequence variation is …