What is the sleeping sickness life cycle?

In the fly’s midgut, the parasites transform into procyclic trypomastigotes, multiply by binary fission, leave the midgut, and transform into epimastigotes. The epimastigotes reach the fly’s salivary glands and continue multiplication by binary fission. The entire life cycle of the fly takes about three weeks.

What is Metacyclic stage?

Metacyclic forms are passed with the feces of the bug, usually as it is taking a blood meal from a vertebrate host, and infection occurs when infected fecal material is rubbed into the bite wound, eyes, or mucous membranes.

Is sleeping sickness Fatal?

Sleeping sickness is curable with medication but is fatal if left untreated.

What is a tsetse fly do to you?

A bite by the tsetse fly is often painful and can develop into a red sore, also called a chancre. Fever, severe headaches, irritability, extreme fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, and aching muscles and joints are common symptoms of sleeping sickness. Some people develop a skin rash.

How does Metacyclic trypanosomes of T. cruzi reproduce?

In the triatomine bug (Triatoma infestans) the parasite goes into the epimastigote stage, making it possible to reproduce. After reproducing through binary fission, the epimastigotes move onto the rectal cell wall, where they become infectious. Infectious T. cruzi are called metacyclic trypomastigotes.

What are Procyclic Trypomastigotes?

Procyclic trypomastigote cell division occurs in the midgut of the tsetse (Figure 3II) to generate a pool of parasites that can then attempt the task of infecting the tsetse salivary glands (SG).

What type of protozoa is Trypanosoma?

Trypanosoma is a genus of kinetoplastids (class Trypanosomatidae), a monophyletic group of unicellular parasitic flagellate protozoa. Trypanosoma is part of the phylum Sarcomastigophora. The name is derived from the Greek trypano- (borer) and soma (body) because of their corkscrew-like motion.

What causes African sleeping sickness?

African Trypanosomiasis, also known as “sleeping sickness”, is caused by microscopic parasites of the species Trypanosoma brucei. It is transmitted by the tsetse fly (Glossina species), which is found only in sub-Saharan Africa.

How long does a tsetse fly live?

Male tsetse fly adults may live two to three weeks, while females can live for one to four months. Tsetse flies are larviparous—the larva hatches from an egg within the female—and the young develop singly within the female’s uterus, feeding on a nutrient fluid secreted by paired milk glands on her uterine wall.