General Terms

Question 1

whatta parasite

Answer 1

an organism that lives within or on another ‘host’ organism to the detriment of that host (and is dependent on the host for completion of part of its life cycle)

Question 2

five general characteristics of protozoa

Answer 2

1. they’re eukaryotes
2. unicellular
3. rigid membrane (not cell wall)
4. most aren’t pathogenic
5. most reproduce sexually but asexual repro gives a way for developing pathogenic parasites in the host

Question 3

whatta direct life cycle

Answer 3

single host in which development and repro occurs

involves definitive and/or paratenic and/or transport hosts, not intermediate hosts

Question 4

whatta indirect life cycle

Answer 4

two or more hosts that are essential to life cycle and in which development occurs

always involves a definitive and 1+ intermediate hosts; sometimes even paratenic or transport hosts

Question 5

intermediate host?

Answer 5

An animal essential for the life cycle of a parasite and in which the parasite undergoes some development (from one immature stage to the next) without reaching sexual maturity. Sometimes the parasite undergoes asexual reproduction (never sexual reproduction).

Question 6

definitive host?

Answer 6

An animal essential for the life cycle of a parasite in which the parasite develops to sexual maturity and reproduces sexually (sometimes asexual reproduction as well).

Question 7

paratenic host

Answer 7

An animal, not essential for the life cycle of a parasite, which the parasite infects but in which it does not undergo development or reproduction (often aids transmission or translocation).

Question 8

transport host

Answer 8

An animal that carries a parasite - usually an immature stage - from one place to another (not infected by parasite but physically translocates it).

Question 9

accidental / dead-end host

Answer 9

An animal which a parasite infects but which is not part of the parasite’s normal ecology and which does not play a role in transmission

Question 10

pre-patent period (PPP)

Answer 10

The period between infection of the host and the earliest time at which oocysts, eggs, larvae (aka infectious material) can be recovered from faeces, urine or blood.

varies between species, important for epidemiology, diagnosis, control

Question 11

vector transmitted disease

Answer 11

diseases caused by pathogens that are transmitted to the human host by the bite of an insect

Question 12

Kinetoplast

Answer 12

extra-nuclear independently replicating DNA at the base of the flagellum

Question 13

intermittent blood feeding

Answer 13

unattached to host while they feed

Question 14

intimate blood feeding

Answer 14

attached to host while they feed

Question 15

biological transmission?

Answer 15

vector is exposed to the pathogen from the host, vector is infected by pathogen

often, species-pathogen specific

Question 16

mechanical transmission?

Answer 16

Pathogen is picked up on the outside of arthropod body (can still be on proboscis); Transmission through physical contact

rarely has vector specificity