Taenia contains over 100 species. This family of tapeworms is found in many animals, but the most notable ones are the beef and pork tapeworm because those are the most commonly eaten animals. Taenia occurs when cattle/pigs are raised by infected humans maintaining poor hygiene, when human feces are improperly disposed of, meat inspection programs are poor, and where meat is eaten without proper cooking. The disease is relatively common in Africa, some parts of Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Cattle ingest the infective embryo while grazing. The...
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Diphyllobothrium is a genus of tapeworm which can cause Diphyllobothriasis in humans through consumption of raw or undercooked fish. It is also known as the salmon tapeworm or broad fish tapeworm. Adult tapeworms may infect humans, canids, felines, bears, pinnipeds, and mustelids, though the accuracy of the records for some of the nonhuman species is disputed. Immature eggs are passed in feces of the mammal host (the definitive host, where the worms reproduce). After ingestion by a suitable freshwater crustacean such as a copepod (the first intermediate host), the coracidia...
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Taenia contains over 100 species. This family of tapeworms is found in many animals, but the most notable ones are the beef and pork tapeworm because those are the most commonly eaten animals. Taenia occurs when cattle/pigs are raised by infected humans maintaining poor hygiene, when human feces are improperly disposed of, meat inspection programs are poor, and where meat is eaten without proper cooking. The disease is relatively common in Africa, some parts of Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Cattle ingest the infective embryo while grazing. The...
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The genus Strongyloides contains 53 species and S. stercoralis is the particular species that causes most human infection. It is often referred to as Threadworm (in Britain it may be known as pinworm), but Strongyloides is a roundworm that causes the disease strongyloidiasis. There are other species that can infect humans, cats, dogs, monkeys and various mammals. The infectious larvae penetrate the skin when skin comes into contact with the soil. Larvae have been thought to locate their hosts via chemicals in the skin. The predominant one is urocanic acid,...
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There are twenty two species under the genus Trichophyton. Within the total number of species, eleven are commonly associated with tinea (ringworm) of the scalp, the nails, and the skin in humans while only four are isolated from animals. Trichophyton is a dermatophyte fungus which is primarily isolated from the soil, humans, or animals. Trichophyton is a keratinophilic filamentous fungus which has the ability to invade keratinized tissues. It is considered one of the leading causes of hair, skin, and nail infections in humans. Possession of several enzymes, such as...
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Microsporum ringworm, a fungus that causes a skin infection called ringworm, can pass from animals to people. It is characterized by skin lesions and small scaly patches that do not always form a circle, microsporum ringworm causes hair loss at the affected site. Ringworm mimics other skin infections, such as demodex, caused by a parasite. Seventeen species of Microsporum exist. Pathogenic dermatophytes are parasitic fungi that share the ability to invade keratinized (do not have circulation, technically dead) structures such as hair, nails, and stratum corneum, causing superficial infections called...
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The pinworm, also known as threadworm (in the United Kingdom) or seatworm, is a roundworm of the Enterobius genus. The pinworm has a worldwide distribution and is the most common parasitic infection in the United States and Western Europe. Pinworms are particularly common in children, with prevalence rates in this age group having been reported as high as 61% in India, 50% in England, 39% in Thailand, 37% in Sweden, and 29% in Denmark. Because it spreads from host to host through contamination, pinworms are common among people living in...
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Two species of hookworms commonly infect humans, they are Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus. Hookworms are round worms that generally live in the small intestine of their host. They are generally associated with dogs, cats and humans. Hookworms are thought to infect more than 600 million people worldwide. Ancylostomiasis, also known by several other names, is the disease caused when large numbers of A. duodenale hookworms produce an iron deficiency anemia by sucking blood from the host's intestinal walls. The worms suck blood voraciously and damage the mucosa of the...
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Heartworm is a parasitic roundworm (Dirofilaria immitis) that lives in the heart and pulmonary arteries of an infected animal. It is generally associated with dogs, but it can also infect humans. The parasite is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito. Heartworms enter the bloodstream as tiny, invisible larvae and travel through the bloodstream, harming arteries and vital organs as they go. Ultimately they complete their journey to the vessels of the lung and the heart chamber about six months after the initial infection. In rare cases, migrating heartworm larvae...
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Giardia infects a number of vertebrates by colonizing and reproducing in the small intestine causing Giardiasis. The parasite is present in the feces of infected people and animals. When water, food or soil sources are contaminated with feces containing giardia, contact with these sources spreads the parasite. Giardia infection occurs most frequently in people traveling to developing countries or in hikers and campers who have consumed untreated water from lakes, streams or ponds. Water is the most common source of contamination. The symptoms of Giardia may appear 1–2 weeks after...
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Filariasis is the name for a group of tropical diseases caused by various thread-like parasitic round worms and their larvae. They are transmitted to humans mainly by the black fly (lays eggs in a skin wound) and mosquito bite. In all cases, a mosquito first bites an infected individual then bites another uninfected individual, transferring some of the worm larvae to the new host. Once inside the body, the larvae migrate to a particular area of the body and mature to adult worms. Over a hundred million people in the...
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There are different species of the Entamoeba parasite. While humans can be hosts to at least six species of Entamoeba, only one species is thought to cause disease. Entamoeba parasites are transmitted by the ingestion of food or water supplies which have been contaminated by the fecal material of infected animals. They burrow through the intestinal wall and spread through the bloodstream to infect other organs, such as the liver, lungs and brain. Entamoeba histolytica is among the most dangerous of the species and live predominantly in tropical areas. It...
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