Protozoan infection
[1] Protozoan infections are responsible for diseases that affect many different types of organisms, including plants, animals, and some marine life.
Many of the most prevalent and deadly human diseases are caused by a protozoan infection, including African sleeping sickness, amoebic dysentery, and malaria.
The species originally termed "protozoa" are not closely related to each other and only have superficial similarities (eukaryotic, unicellular, motile, though with exceptions).
Within the taxonomic classification, the four protist supergroups (Amoebozoa, Excavata, SAR, and Archaeplastida) fall under the domain Eukarya.
These protists include strict aerobes, and use photosystems I and II in order to carry out photosynthesis which produces oxygen.
The pellicle structure in the protist is a thin layer of protein that helps provide the cell with some support and protection.
Finally, anaerobic chemoorganotrophs produce energy through the use of hydrogenosomes, which are membrane-enclosed organelles that release molecular hydrogen (H2).
They are characterized by a feeding groove with a posteriorly located flagella, which allows them to create a current that captures small food particles.
Diplomonads were previously defined by the lack of a mitochondrion, but recent studies have found that they have a nonfunctional, mitochondrial remnant organelle called a mitosome.
Giardia causes diarrhea, Hexamita salmonis is a fish parasite, and Histomonas meleagridis is a turkey pathogen.
One can tell one may be infected by the observation of cysts or trophozoites in stools and ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) test.
A study found that the chlorination of water and nutritional intervention had no effect on childhood giardia infection.
Signs of histomoniasis include reduced appetite, drooping wings, unkempt feathers, and yellow fecal droppings.
[1] Trichomonas foetus is a parasite that resides in the urogenital tract of cattle and causes bovine trichomoniasis.
Sometimes the infection can be observed; the most common symptoms include diarrhea, stomach pains, loss of appetite, nausea, and fatigue.
Women who are infected usually show signs of soreness, inflammation, and redness around the vagina and a possible change in vaginal discharge.
The members of the phylum Euglenozoa have a pellicle for support, a red eye spot called a stigma to orient the cell toward light, chlorophyll a and b to assist in the process of photosynthesis, contractile vacuoles, and flagella.
African sleeping sickness causes interstitial inflammation, lethargy, brain swelling, and death within one to three years.
[21] Amoebiasis is caused by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with feces or other bodily wastes of an infected person, which contain cysts, the dormant form of the microbe.
These cysts on reaching the terminal ileum region of the gastrointestinal tract give rise to a mass of proliferating cells, the trophozoite form of the parasite, by the process of excystation.
[22] Symptoms of this infection include diarrhea with blood and mucus, and can alternate between constipation and remission, abdominal pain, and fever.
Symptoms can progress to ameboma, fulminant colitis, toxic megacolon, colonic ulcers, leading to perforation, and abscesses in vital organs like liver, lung, and brain.
Amoebiasis can be treated with the administration of anti-amoebic compounds, this often includes the use of Metronidazole, Ornidazole, Chloroquine, Secnidazole, Nitazoxanide and Tinidazole.
[citation needed] The supergroup SAR includes Stramenopiles, Alveolata and Rhizaria, and is distinguished by fine pseudopodia which can be branched, simple, or connected.
In order to diagnose Malaria, doctors will look for parasites in Wright-or-Giemsa-stained red blood cells and serological tests.
Theileria parva & T. annulata are tick-borne parasites which cause fatal East Coast fever in cattle.
East Coast fever is transmitted by the bite of the three-host tick Phipicephalus appendiculatus and results in respiratory failure and death in African cattle.
[30] Cryptosporidiosis can be contracted through contact with water, food, soil, or surfaces contaminated with feces containing the Cryptosporidium.
[34] Green algae exhibit similar features to the land plants, particularly in terms of chloroplast structure.
[35] Protothecosis is commonly seen in dogs; it enters the body through the mouth or nose and causes infection in the intestines.
