18 Protozoa 1 Flashcards
What are the life stages of Giardia?
Cyst and trophozoite
How do Giardia trophozoites multiply?
Binary fission
What is the infective stage of Giardia?
Cyst
Do Giardia cysts survive well in the environment?
Yes
Each Giardia cyst contains ____ trophozoites.
2
T or F: Giardia is zoonotic.
VERY TRUE
T or F: many Giardia infections are asymptomatic.
T
What are the clinical signs of Giardiasis?
Chronic or intermittent diarrhea
Steatorrhea
Mucus in stool
Weight loss
Slow growth
Borborygmi
What is the function of the ventral disk on Giardia?
Attaches to enterocytes
What is the pathogenic stage of Giardia?
Trophozoite
What effects do Giardia trophozoite attachment have on the hosts enterocytes? What can this do to the intestinal microbiota?
Increased epithelial permeability, loss of brush border, villus flattening.
This can cause overgrowth of intestinal bacterial flora.
From least to most sensitive, what are the diagnostic methods for Giardia used in a typical clinic?
Direct smear, fecal float, ELISA (4Dx Snap Test)
What is the gold standard for diagnosing Giardia in a diagnostic lab?
Direct fluorescent antibody test (DFA)
What Giardia assemblages tend to affect dogs?
C & D
What Giardia assemblages tend to affect cats?
F & A1
What Giardia assemblages tend to affect ruminants?
E
What Giardia assemblages can infect multiple hosts including humans?
A & B
T or F: There are multiple effective and approved drugs to treat giardiasis in veterinary medicine.
False – no drug is 100% effective and none are approved
What is the prepatent period for new Giardia infections?
7 days
How should you advise a client with a dog that has a Giardia infection to prevent reinfection?
Thoroughly disinfect the environment, treat ALL dogs and cats in the household, bathe the animals to wash cysts out of fur
What are the distinct morphological features of Tritrichomonas?
Three anterior flagella and an undulating membrane
What are the life stages of Tritrichomonas?
Just trophozoites
How is Tritrichomonas transmitted?
Direct host-to-host contact
In cattle, _______ are often asymptomatic carriers of tritrichomonas.
Bulls
What can tritrichomonas do in breeding cows?
Early embryonic death and reabsorption
Where in cattle does tritrichomonas live?
Bulls – prepuce and penis
Cows – uterus and vagina
T or F: cattle can gain long term immunity to tritrichomonas after clearing an infection.
F - immunity is short lived
T or F: most tritrichomonas infections are cleared in cows and bulls.
T in cows; bulls are infected for life and are often asymptomatic carriers
Where does tritrichomonas live in cats?
Distal ileum and colon
What clinical signs do tritrichomonas cause in cats?
Diarrhea – can be anywhere from chronic loose stool to explosive diarrhea
T or F: the majority of cats with tritrichomonas show severe clinical disease.
F; many are asymptomatic carriers or remain active w/ little to no weight loss
How can tritrichomonas be diagnosed?
Direct smear, InPouch culture, PCR
T or F: most infected cats are asymptomatic carriers of tritrichomonas.
T
