Arthropods/ Ectoparasites Flashcards
What is an ectoparasite?
Parasites that live on the outside of the host, either on or in the skin or the outgrowths of the skin
Give examples of arthropods and the subspecies within that?
Insects
Lice, biting and chewing flies
(Includes flea, jigger flea, simulium, bed bug, bot flies and screwworm- not covered here in detail)
Arachnids
Ticks and some mites
(Includes chigger mites- not covered here in detail)
Annelids
Leeches
Linguatula serrate
What are the main arthropod parasites?
Whats the name of the human and equine Bot fly- warble- Oestridae?
Dermatobia hominis- human bot fly
Gasterophilus intestinalis- equine bot fly
Tell me about the bot fly
Bot fly-
Botflies deposit eggs on a host, or sometimes use an intermediate vector - housefly, mosquitoes, or for Dermatobia hominis, ticks. botfly attaches to the body under the wings.
Larvae from these eggs, stimulated by the warmth of a mammal host, drop onto its skin and burrow underneath
Tell me about the equine botfly/ warble eggs
The equine botflies/ warble eggs laid on the insides of horses’ front legs or nose, depending on the species- the eggs are transferred to the mouth and swallowed-the larvae hatch and attach themselves to the stomach lining or the small intestine or even mouth. The larvae remain attached and develop for 10–12 months before passed.
What do the bot fly have on their surface and why?
Have spines on their surface which work to prevent the removal of the bot fly
Whats the life cycle of the jigger- flea Tunga penetrans?
Endoparasites don’t tend to cause diseases directly, give some examples…
Simulium- black fly
- Onchocerca volvulus
- river blindness
Flea
- Cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis)
- Dog flea (Ctenocephalides canis)
- Human flea (Pulex irritans)- not evolved with us as no primates have a flea
- Northern rat flea (Nosopsyllus fasciatus)
- Oriental rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopis)
Bacteria:
- murine /endemic typhus- Rickettsia typhi
- bubonic plague (rodent passage) Yersinia pestis
Virus: Myxomatosis
Helminth: Hymenolepiasis tapeworm, Dipylidium caninum tapeworm
Protozoa: Trypanosome lewisi (fatal to both rats and mice)
Whats the life cycle fo the Cimex lectularius
blood feeder?
Tell me about the Cochliomyia hominivorax/ Screw worm
screw worm (member of blow fly family) is a parasitic species
larvae eat and infest the flesh (healthy and decaying tissue) of living warm-blooded animals (myiasis-Fly strikes)
Eggs laid about wounds or navel in new-born’s
larvae hatch, burrow deep into tissue, screwworm, small spines on each body segment that resemble a screw’s threads., perpendicular to the skin surface.
In blow fly family but parasite (blow flies feed off necrotic tissue) - new world screw worm – there is an old-world form in Asia/ Africa/ India – and now Australia …. Sterile insect eradication
Damage to hide
Secondary bacterial infections
In what ways can insect and arthropod parasites cause disease and how in each way do they do that?
In part of their own life cycle
- Blood feeding
- Live on and in tissues (direct damage and allergies)
As vector for another infectious agent
- Either as a mechanical vector
- Or a secondary host (? Often, they are the primary host)
*
What are the different types of hosts?
Primary (definitive) host
Secondary (intermediate) host
A reservoir host/ paratenic host
Whats a primary host?
Primary (definitive) Host- here parasite reaches maturity and (may) reproduce sexually (or show genetic material rearrangements between individuals). - required in lifecycle
Whats a secondary host?
Secondary (intermediate) Host- harbours the parasite for a transition period, during which specific development occurs (differentiation). - required in lifecycle
Whats a reservoir host/ paratenic host?
A reservoir host/ paratenic host harbours a pathogen indefinitely with no ill effects serves as a source from which other animals can be infected.
No differentiation here- not required in the lifecycle (but can amplify the pathogen)- MAY show asexual/ non differentiative amplification of non-mature stages of a parasite in which they can accumulate in high numbers – i.e., an amplifying host - So pathogen levels can become high enough to become infectious (transmission is either from the reservoir host or from mechanical vector interacting with this host).
The other type of host is a dead-end host, what is this?
A dead-end host -intermediate host that does not allow transmission to the definitive host, preventing the parasite from completing its development. Common in man where consuming human tissue not seen
Humans for tapeworms as cysts e.g., the Echinococcus (canine) or Taenia soleus (porcine) tapeworm. As infected humans are not usually eaten by final host (dog/ pig).
Whats a vector?
An animal that transmits an infectious agent (there are two ways to do this)
What are the two types of vectors?
Mechanical vector
Biologicla vector
Whats a mechanical vector?
A vehicle (without a stage of development or multiplication).
Mechanical vector. E.g., bacterial and virus transfer. The agent is usually carried on the skin or mouthparts of the vector causing transmission from an infected to a susceptible host.
The survival time of the agent in/ on the vector is usually short, and the transmission must be rapid.
Whats a biological vector?
Can undergo development or multiplication in the vector
Biological vector –such vectors are either an intermediate or definitive or paratenic host (i.e., differentiation may occur- cf paratenic host).
As develops/ amplifies in the vector, time elapses between the acquisition of the agent by the vector and it is becoming infective.
Once infective, the vector may remain so for a considerable period if not the rest of its life. Hence more than a single opportunity for disease transmission. E.g., Ticks and Swine fever virus
Tell me about the Culicidae/ mosquito
What are the different species?
The little fly
Females are blood sucking ectoparasites of most groups of vertebrates (including reptiles, amphibians, and fish) some will take haemolymph
Over 4000 species 5 Genuses (~200 will bite man, 5-6 are considered a human danger)
- Anopheles - malaria
- Culex- West Nile, Japanese encephalitis, or St. Louis encephalitis virus and filariasis
- Aedes -dengue fever, yellow fever, Zika virus, chikungunya virus and lymphatic filariasis
Most are not obligate parasites but for larger egg numbers or second egg laying need a blood meal (hatching of eggs less efficient if the female does not take a blood meal)
Attracted to host by CO2 and 1-octen-3-ol- olfactory stimulant
Deet- ?? Inhibits above or a true repellent
The mosquito life cycle
The different stages
Eggs single or arrays dep on species- most are fresh water (usually stagnant) some use salt/ brackish
Eggs can enter diapause if drying seen
Larvae eat microbe / algae sp spiricles for gas transfer as surface (oil- surface tension change) 4 larval instars (5 stages with pupae being the 5th one)
Pupae are active and swim to surface for gas exchange- pupate hanging off water surface
males ~ 5 days as adult- female 14-28 days – temp dependant
papal are motile and go through differentiation. They can stay n this stage for a long time before male and female formed
females take multiple blood feeds where possible to have good reproduction
Tell me about the proboscis and its structure/ function
the labium (labella front part) ensheaths the mandibles and maxilla it bends away from the mouthparts when the mosquito to bites.
The tip of the labella remains in contact guiding the mandibles and the maxillae
The mandibles are pointed the maxillae have outward teeth- the two are levered against each other with the teeth holding into the tissue
The hypopharynx and the labrum are hollow.
Saliva with anticoagulant is pumped down the hypopharynx, and blood is drawn up the labrum.
Maxilla is BELOW mandible here – based on function rather than position
Mandible- the chewing part
Proboscis
How does an individual respond to a mosquito bite?
What is it driven by?
type IV hypersensitivity reaction
(Occasional anaphylactic type I IgE/ mast cell-basophil driven response)
delayed takes several days to develop, not Ab but cell-mediated response.
Driven by MHC class II (Ag from saliva of insect on them) complex on the surface of APCs (usually macrophages) this with macrophage secreted IL-12, stimulates CD4+ Th1 cells activity and proliferation. These secrete IL-2 and IFγ, inducing the release of Th1 cytokines, causing inflammation
What are the immunomodulatory proteins in mosquito saliva with haemostatic and vasodilatory effects?
- apyrase and 5 nucleotidase, - destroy ADP and ATP – ADP and ATP cause clotting so by destroying them you block platelet mediated clotting by destroying ADP and ATP can lead to 3 and 4
- antithrombin, antifactor Xa- protein – Block humeral clotting
- vasodilatory salivary peroxidase- produced by mosquito and this causes vasodilation
- nitrophorins – indirectly make nitric oxide, transfer system driving vasodilation, (also inhibit platelet aggregation and inflammatory effects of histamine)
- D7 proteins may block host haemostatic and inflammatory molecules
Free adenosine stronger or as strong vasodilator as ADP/ATP and prevents clotting
Thrombin = factor 2
Th-1 cytokines IFN-γ, IL-2, and TNF-α-
Tell me the stages that occur during type I (immediate) hypersensitivity
Whats the pathogenesis of type IV hypersensitivity?