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Examples include: Acanthocephala; Ascariasis (roundworms) Cestoda (tapeworms) including: Taenia saginata (human beef tapeworm), Taenia solium (human pork tapeworm), Diphyllobothrium latum (fish tapeworm) and Echinococcosis (hydatid tapeworm) Clonorchis sinensis (the Chinese liver fluke) Dracunculus medinensis (Guinea worm) Enterobius ...
Parasitism is a major aspect of evolutionary ecology; for example, almost all free-living animals are host to at least one species of parasite. Vertebrates, the best-studied group, are hosts to between 75,000 and 300,000 species of helminths and an uncounted number of parasitic microorganisms.
Main article: Human parasite Endoparasites Protozoan organisms Common name of organism or disease Latin name (sorted) Body parts affected Diagnostic specimen Prevalence Source/Transmission (Reservoir/Vector) Granulomatous amoebic encephalitis and Acanthamoeba keratitis (eye infection) Acanthamoeba spp. eye, brain, skin culture worldwide contact lenses cleaned with contaminated tap water ...
The black rat is a reservoir host for bubonic plague.The rat fleas that infest the rats are vectors for the disease.. In biology and medicine, a host is a larger organism that harbours a smaller organism; [1] whether a parasitic, a mutualistic, or a commensalist guest ().
Parasites can provide information about host population ecology. In fisheries biology, for example, parasite communities can be used to distinguish distinct populations of the same fish species co-inhabiting a region. Additionally, parasites possess a variety of specialized traits and life-history strategies that enable them to colonize hosts.
In many cases, multiple parasitism still leads to the death of one or more of the parasitoids involved. If multiple parasitoids of the same species coexist in a single host, it is called superparasitism. Gregarious species lay multiple eggs or polyembryonic eggs which lead to multiple larvae in a single host.
As such behaviours damage the host, they often result in an evolutionary arms race between parasite and host as they coevolve. [10] [11] Some host species have strong rejection defenses, forcing the parasitic species to evolve excellent mimicry. In other species, hosts do not defend against parasites, and the parasitic mimicry is poor.
Parasitic life cycles involve the exploitation of at least one host. Parasites that infect a single species are said to have direct life-cycles. [5] For example, the hookworm species Necator americanus. Parasites that infect more than one host are said to have a complex or indirect life-cycle. [5] For example, the malaria plasmodium.