Disease Vectors and Pathogens

Filaria (lymphatic filariasis) is a parasitic disease caused by microscopic, thread-like worms that infect the lymph system.

The Widal test is a serological test used to detect antibodies against Salmonella typhi, the bacteria that causes typhoid fever.

 Taenia solium is the tapeworm which causes cysticercosis,a pork infection.

Holoparasites or obligate parasites cannot complete their life cycle without harming the host. 

Cholera is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae and is primarily transmitted through contaminated water, classifying it as a water-borne disease.

Only female mosquitoes bite humans because they require the protein found in blood to develop their eggs. Male mosquitoes feed exclusively on plant nectar.

Mosquitoes are the most common vectors for many diseases, including malaria, dengue, and Zika. They are highly efficient at transmitting pathogens between human hosts.

Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites, not a virus. However, in the context of the life cycle of the malaria parasite, it travels to the liver first to multiply before infecting red blood cells.

Malaria is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito. The parasite is injected into the bloodstream during the bite.

Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite, which is a type of protozoa transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito.

Taenia solium is a digenetic endoparasitic platyhelminth whose primary host is man and secondary host is pig.

It is the non-feeding larval stage of Fascicola hepatica or liver fluke.

African trypanosomiasis is a parasitic disease transmitted by the tsetse fly. It gets its nickname ‘sleeping sickness’ because symptoms can include a disturbed sleep pattern.

Trichonympha is a genus of parabasalid protists that live in the intestines of many, if not most, termite species. They are symbiotes, in that they break down the cellulose in the wood and plant fibers their hosts eat.

Unlike most other protozoans, sporozoans have no cilia or flagella. All species are parasitic and have elaborate life cycles, often requiring more than one host. The best-known sporozoan is Plasmodium falciparum, the causative organism of malaria.