Day 8: Protozoa-Flagellates, Hemoflagellates and Hemosporidians

Question 1

What is Giardia

Answer 1

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

Question 2

What is the lifecycle of Giardia

Answer 2

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

Question 3

What are the clinical signs of Giardia

Answer 3

Maldigestion
Malabsorption
Pipestream diarrhea

Question 4

What is the Diagnosis of Giardia

Answer 4

Direct smear with Lugols iodine stain
Fecal flotation via centrifugation
Fecal ELISA test (SNAP test)
Direct fluorescent antibody test

Question 5

How do you treat Giardia

Answer 5

Hard to control infection
Metronidazole
Fenbendazole
Sometimes used together

Question 6

How to control Giardia

Answer 6

Bathing animal and sanitizing environment
Vaccine developed for dogs and cats, but no longer available

Question 7

What is Tritrichomonas foetus

Answer 7

Flagellates
Pear shaped
Axostyle divides parasite in half
Undulating membrane with flagella

Question 8

What is the life cycle of Tritrichomonas foetus

Answer 8

Reproduces by binary fission
Transferred directly from cow to bull to cow during breeding

Question 9

What is the distribution of tritrichomonas foetus

Answer 9

Western US
Occurs more frequently in beef operations where natural breeding is practiced than in dairy herds

Question 10

What is the clinical signs of Tritrichomonas foetus

Answer 10

Abortion (early inapparent abortion)
Pyometra
Delayed calving
Infection in bulls is usually inapparent

Question 11

How do you diagnose Tritrichomonas foetus

Answer 11

Culture techniques are most sensitive
Specific stains
ELISA
Agglutination test

Question 12

What is the control of tritrichomonas foetus

Answer 12

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

Question 13

What are the two common hemoflagellates`

Answer 13

Leishmania donovani
Leishmania major

Question 14

What is Leishmania donovani

Answer 14

Visceral form
Infects humans and dogs
Cuases a chronic wasting disease in dogs with skin lesions

Question 15

What is Leishmania major

Answer 15

Cutaneous forms
Infects humans, dogs, rodents and wild mammals

Question 16

What is the epidemiology of Leishmania

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Explain the life cycle of Leishamania

Answer 17

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

Question 18

What are the clinical sign of Canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL)

Answer 18

Skin lesions
Decreased red blood cell and platelet numbers
Lymphadenopathy of the lymph nodes
Emaciation
Renal failure
Neuralgia
Pain in the joints

Question 19

What is the treatment for CVL

Answer 19

Rarely curative
Prognosis for emaciated chronically infected animals is very poor

Question 20

What are the species of Haemosporidians-Babesia

Answer 20

Babesia bigemina-Infects cattles causing “texas fever” or “red water fever”
Caballi
equi
canis
gibsoni
felis

Question 21

What i the morphology of Haemosporidians-Babesia

Answer 21

Apple-seed like piroplasms
Found in pairs in RBCs
Transmission by ticks

Question 22

What are the clinical signs of Haemosporidians-Babesia

Answer 22

Pyrexia
Hemoglobinuria
Anemia
Icterus
Splenomegaly

Question 23

Which animals are more susceptible to Haemosporidians - Babesia

Answer 23

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

Question 24

What is the diagnosis of Haemosporidians - Babesia

Answer 24

Animals can become carriers
Finding the organism on Giemsa-stained thin blood smears
ELISA for B. canis
IFA

Question 25

What are the 2 species of Haemosporidians - Leucocytozoon

Answer 25

Leucocytozoon simondi - high mortality in ducks
Leucocytozoon smithi - highly fatal in turkeys