Parasitic Protozoans and Vectors

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering parasitic protozoans, their life stages, phyla classifications, associated diseases, and biological or mechanical vectors.

Trophozoite

The motile feeding stage of a protozoan that requires ample food and moisture to stay active.

Cyst

The dormant, resting stage of a protozoan formed under unfavorable conditions, resistant to heat, drying, and chemicals.

Phylum Mastigophora

A group of protozoans that move via flagella or flagella and amoeboid motion, possessing mitosomes instead of mitochondria.

Trypanosoma gambiense

A flagellated protozoan transmitted by the Tsetse fly that causes African sleeping sickness.

Trypanosoma cruzi

A flagellated protozoan transmitted by the Triatomine insect that causes Chagas' disease.

Tsetse Fly

A biting insect vector that transmits Trypanosoma gambiense, the causative organism of African sleeping sickness.

Triatomine Insect

A biting insect vector responsible for transmitting Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes Chagas' disease.

Giardia lamblia

A mastigophoran parasite inhabiting the small intestine of mammals that is transmitted through fecal contamination and causes diarrhea.

Trichomonas vaginalis

A sexually transmitted protozoan with an undulating membrane that exists only as a trophozoite and does not form cysts.

Phylum Sarcodina

A protozoan phylum whose organisms move using pseudopods, such as Amoeba proteus and Entamoeba histolytica.

Entamoeba histolytica

An intestinal sarcodine parasite found in 10% of humans that secretes lectins to lyse host cells, causing amoebic dysentery.

Phylum Ciliophora

A group of complex protozoans that move using cilia and possess macronuclei and micronuclei.

Balantidium coli

The only human parasite in Phylum Ciliophora, which releases proteases and causes dysentery.

Phylum Apicomplexa

A group of non-motile, obligate intracellular parasites containing an apical complex of organelles for host cell penetration.

Plasmodium

An apicomplexan genus causing malaria, comprising species such as vivax, malariae, falciparum, ovale, and knowlesi.

Definitive Host

The host organism in which a parasite undergoes sexual reproduction, such as the mosquito for Plasmodium or the cat for Toxoplasma gondii.

Intermediate Host

The host organism in which a parasite undergoes asexual reproduction, such as the human host in the Plasmodium life cycle.

Toxoplasma gondii

An apicomplexan parasite causing toxoplasmosis, whose definitive host is cats/mammals; infection during pregnancy can cause stillbirth, liver damage, or brain damage.

Biological Vector

A disease transmitter in which the pathogen or parasite requires the vector to complete part of its life cycle, such as mosquitoes for malaria.

Mechanical Vector

A disease transmitter where the pathogen or parasite is carried passively on an outside body part, such as a house fly carrying E. coli.

Flea

An insect vector that transmits Yersinia pestis (Bubonic plague) and Rickettsia typhi (Typhus).

Anopheles

The primary genus of mosquitoes responsible for transmitting malaria.

Deer Tick

An arachnid vector with a red body and black legs that transmits Borrelia burgdorferi across larva, nymph, and adult stages.

Borrelia burgdorferi

A spirochete bacterium transmitted by deer ticks that causes Lyme disease.

Schizogony

A form of asexual reproduction in liver cells where Plasmodium sporozoites divide to produce merozoites.