Day 8: Protozoa-Flagellates, Hemoflagellates and Hemosporidians Flashcards
What is Giardia
Flagellate protozoan parasite
2 stages are cyts and trophozoites
Common in dogs and cats
Less common in ruminants
Rare in horses and pigs
All species of Giardia are considered zoonotic
Fecal-oral transmission
Direct lifecycle
What is the lifecycle of Giardia
Host ingest cyst
Trophozoite attaches to the brush border of the villous epithelium of the intestines
Trophozite reproduces by binary fission
Cyst forms and is released in feces
What are the clinical signs of Giardia
Maldigestion
Malabsorption
Pipestream diarrhea
What is the Diagnosis of Giardia
Direct smear with Lugols iodine stain
Fecal flotation via centrifugation
Fecal ELISA test (SNAP test)
Direct fluorescent antibody test
How do you treat Giardia
Hard to control infection
Metronidazole
Fenbendazole
Sometimes used together
How to control Giardia
Bathing animal and sanitizing environment
Vaccine developed for dogs and cats, but no longer available
What is Tritrichomonas foetus
Flagellates
Pear shaped
Axostyle divides parasite in half
Undulating membrane with flagella
What is the life cycle of Tritrichomonas foetus
Reproduces by binary fission
Transferred directly from cow to bull to cow during breeding
What is the distribution of tritrichomonas foetus
Western US
Occurs more frequently in beef operations where natural breeding is practiced than in dairy herds
What is the clinical signs of Tritrichomonas foetus
Abortion (early inapparent abortion)
Pyometra
Delayed calving
Infection in bulls is usually inapparent
How do you diagnose Tritrichomonas foetus
Culture techniques are most sensitive
Specific stains
ELISA
Agglutination test
What is the control of tritrichomonas foetus
Use young bulls only for breeding
Young bulls are resistant and act only as transient vectors of the organism
Testing and culling positive
New animals entering a herd should be tested
What are the two common hemoflagellates`
Leishmania donovani
Leishmania major
What is Leishmania donovani
Visceral form
Infects humans and dogs
Cuases a chronic wasting disease in dogs with skin lesions
What is Leishmania major
Cutaneous forms
Infects humans, dogs, rodents and wild mammals
What is the epidemiology of Leishmania
Mainly a tropical disease and endemic to the Mediterranean
Vectorborne disease transmitted by sand flies
Transmission in US by direct contact with blood of an infected dogs (fighting, blood transfusion)
Vertical
Explain the life cycle of Leishamania
Amastigotes are intracellular in macrophages
Amastigotes multiply by simple division
Promastigotes are taken up in blood meal and are free living in the sand fly
Promastigotes are injected into a host when the fly feeds on blood
Promastigote are the infective form for dogs
Amastigotes were transferred directly by blood transfusion to other dogs
What are the clinical sign of Canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL)
Skin lesions
Decreased red blood cell and platelet numbers
Lymphadenopathy of the lymph nodes
Emaciation
Renal failure
Neuralgia
Pain in the joints
What is the treatment for CVL
Rarely curative
Prognosis for emaciated chronically infected animals is very poor
What are the species of Haemosporidians-Babesia
Babesia bigemina-Infects cattles causing “texas fever” or “red water fever”
Caballi
equi
canis
gibsoni
felis
What i the morphology of Haemosporidians-Babesia
Apple-seed like piroplasms
Found in pairs in RBCs
Transmission by ticks
What are the clinical signs of Haemosporidians-Babesia
Pyrexia
Hemoglobinuria
Anemia
Icterus
Splenomegaly
Which animals are more susceptible to Haemosporidians - Babesia
In cattle, older cattle
In all animals, splenectomy increases susceptibility
Cats can present with chronic nonspecific signs such as anorexia, lethargy, weakness, and rough haircoat
What is the diagnosis of Haemosporidians - Babesia
Animals can become carriers
Finding the organism on Giemsa-stained thin blood smears
ELISA for B. canis
IFA
