A continuous culture system suitable for maintaining certain rumen protozoa was developed by modifying the procedure of Walter and Pilgrim (R.A. Weller and A.F. Pilgrim, Br. J. Nutr. 32:341-351, 1974) to include a dialyzing system. The concentration of ciliate protozoa, the pH value, and concentrations of volatile fatty acid and ammonia-N could be maintained within normal rumen limits for more ...

BACKGROUND: The parasitic protozoa Toxoplasma gondii is widely prevalent in humans and warm-blooded animals. Humans are usually infected with T. gondii by ingesting oocysts shed by cats or by ingesting viable tissue cysts present in raw or undercooked meat. OBJECTIVES: This preliminary study was conducted to assess the frequency of Toxoplasma gondii infection in tissue samples of ewes slaughter...

Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EcO157), an agent of life threatening hemolytic-uremic syndrome, resides in ruminants and is released in feces at numbers as high as 10 million cells/gram. EcO157 could survive in manure for as long as 21 months, but we observed a 90% decrease in cells of an outbreak strain of EcO157 within half a day in wastewater from dairy lagoons. Although chemical, environmental a...

Parasitic protozoa are among the most important pathogens worldwide. Diseases such as malaria, leishmaniasis, amoebiasis, giardiasis, trichomoniasis, and trypanosomiasis affect millions of people. Humans are constantly threatened by infections caused by these pathogens. Parasites engage a plethora of surface and secreted molecules to attach to and enter mammalian cells. The secretion of lytic e...

The demarcation of protist kingdoms is reviewed, a complete revised classification down to the level of subclass is provided for the kingdoms Protozoa, Archezoa, and Chromista, and the phylogenetic basis of the revised classification is outlined. Removal of Archezoa because of their ancestral absence of mitochondria, peroxisomes, and Golgi dictyosomes makes the kingdom Protozoa much more homoge...

The aim of the study was to observe histo-pathological effects of different arthropoda, oocyste and worms infestation on the wild pigeon naturally infected. Gastro-intestinal tract associated organs were removed from the abdomen and tissue sample of 15 birds were collected and proceed in Haematoxylin and Eosin. Fresh fecal samples were examined by direct smear method whereas egg per gram (EPG) ...

Four Korean squirrels (Tanias siberius) imported in Spain from People's Republic of China died 2 days after their arrival at a pet shop. They had neurological signs associated with generalized toxoplasmosis involving brain, lungs, liver, and the heart. Toxoplasma gondii-like tachyzoites and tissue cysts were found in organs of all four squirrels. The protozoa stained positively with T. gondii p...

BACKGROUND Diagnostic study of vector ticks for different pathogens transmitted specifically have been done by Iranian old scientists working on the basis of biological transmission of pathogens. In this study we decided to confirm natural infection of different collected ticks from three different provinces of Iran. METHODS Ticks were collected from livestock (sheep, goats and cattle) during...

Parasitic diseases are common in fish. Diagnosis can be made through gill biopsy, skin cytology, fecal examination, or necropsy. Common parasites include protozoa, helminths, and crustaceans. Determining the cause of death in a fish is important for maintaining the health of other fish in the same environment. Due to rapid autolysis, fish necropsies should be performed promptly after death. Sam...