(an″ă-plaz′mă fag″ŏ-sī-tof′ĭ-lŭm )
A small gram-negative coccus that is an obligate intracellular parasite. It can be transmitted to humans by tick bite and is the cause of the disease formerly known as human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (now known as anaplasmosis). It was formerly called Ehrlichia phagocytophila.