Latest Parasitism Stories
Fossilized tapeworm eggs in shark feces may be earliest known example of intestinal parasites in vertebrates A cluster of tapeworm eggs discovered in 270-million-year-old fossilized shark feces suggests that intestinal parasites in vertebrates are much older than previously known, according to research published January 30 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Paula Dentzien-Dias and colleagues from the Federal University of Rio Grande, Brazil. Remains of such parasites in vertebrates...
redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Researchers from Duke University say that changes in temperature and precipitation in Madagascar could cause disease-carrying lemur parasites to grow and reproduce more quickly, spreading to new areas and presenting a potential danger to the island nation’s human population. Graduate student and lead author Meredith Barrett and her colleagues analyzed several species of parasites that are commonly known to infect the primates,...
Long ago, when life on our planet was in its infancy, a group of small single-celled algae floating in the vast prehistoric ocean swam freely by beating whip-like tails, called flagella. It's a relatively unremarkable tale, except that now, over 800 million years later, these organisms have evolved into parasites that threaten human health, and their algal past in the ocean may be the key to stopping them. The organisms are called Apicomplexa, but are better known as the parasites that...
A new study demonstrates for the first time how the Toxoplasma gondii parasite enters the brain to influence its host's behavior. This research was led by researchers from the Karolinska Institute and Uppsala University in Sweden publishes today in the Open Access journal PLOS Pathogens. The Toxoplasma gondii parasite causes toxoplasmosis. The parasite is common and infects between 30 and 50 per cent of the global population. It also infects animals, especially domestic cats. Human...
How parasites remote control victims Parasites are unpleasant lodgers at the best of times, but there is one group of parasites that is particularly pernicious. These are the parasites that hijack their victims' nervous systems, reducing them to helpless zombies. 'The fact that parasites can so efficiently alter host behaviour is fascinating', says The Journal of Experimental Biology Editor Michael Dickinson, from the University of Washington, USA, adding, 'There is something horrifying...
When herbivores such as caterpillars feed, plants may "call for help" by emitting volatiles, which can indirectly help defend the plants. The volatiles recruit parasitoids that infect, consume and kill the herbivores, to the benefit of the plant. However, such induced plant odors can also be detected by other organisms. A new study published November 27 in the open access journal PLOS Biology shows how secondary parasitoids ('hyperparasitoids') can take advantage of these plant signals to...
Researchers find a viral symbiont of a protozoan parasite increases virulence to the human host When humans have parasites, the organisms live in our bodies, co-opt our resources and cause disease. However, it turns out that parasites themselves can have their own co-habitants. Researchers from Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital and SUNY Upstate Medical University have found that the pathogenicity of the sexually transmitted protozoan parasite Trichomonas...
BEL AIR, Md., Oct. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading parasitologists with the nonprofit Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC, www.PetsandParasites.org) say the risk of Lyme disease will increase this fall. According to the organization's Fall 2012 CAPC Lyme Disease Forecast - only the second such Forecast ever issued - the disease will continue to spread southward through the United States and expand significantly along the West Coast. (Photo:...
In relationships based on mutuality, the number of individuals involved can determine the rate at which species evolve The relationship between species determines how rapidly they evolve. Parasites and their hosts coevolve more rapidly, and partners in a mutualistic relationship can evolve more slowly. But this view is obviously too simplistic. The rate of evolution in a mutualistic relationship does not depend only on the type of interactions, but also on the number of individuals...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online You may want to start washing your hands after petting fluffy, because new estimates indicate that 350,000 people a year in the United Kingdom become infected with toxoplasmosis. The disease is spread by direct contact with cats, or eating contaminated food, according to a report by the Food Standards Agency. Only about one in 10 of the people who have become infected with toxoplasmosis have symptoms. "The biggest threat is to...
Latest Parasitism Reference Libraries
The lancet liver fluke (Dicrocoelium dendriticum) is a parasitic worm that is classified within the Platyhelminthes phylum. It is thought to be native to over thirty countries including Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Iran, China, Vietnam, Japan, Ghana, and Nigeria, among many other areas. It is also found in South and North America and in Australia. It is typically found in cattle or other grazing species, so it is thought to prefer a habitat that supports these species. It is similar in...
Profilicollis is a genus of acanthocephalan parasites that are found in crustaceans and shorebirds. Profilicollis parasites use decapod crustaceans as intermediate hosts and species of shorebirds as definitive hosts. The parasite first develops in mole crabs of North and South America. After it infects a mole crab, it becomes dormant until the crab is eaten by a suitable bird, such as a Surf scoter or Herring Gull. Once the parasite has passed through the stomach of the bird, it develops...
