Parasite of the Day

When it comes to parasitology, sometimes you have to get really up close with your study organism, as one researcher in Taiwan did in trying...

Single-celled organisms are difficult to classify. They don't have very much when it comes to morphology and so for a long time were ju...

Schistosoma mansoni is an unusual parasitic trematode of humans. Unusual, because unlike most other trematodes, schistosomes are dioecious...

Like Wuchereria bancrofti , Brugia malayi is another type of filarial nematode that is responsible for the disease known as lymphatic filar...

Entamoeba histolytica is one of the most common parasites of humans and apes, with some estimates going as high as 50 million people infect...

Although most commonly found infecting pigs, Ascaris suum , a large roundworm nematode, can also infect humans. This species has the same l...

Got kids? Then, perhaps you also have Enterobius vermicularis , pinworms. These are oxyurid nematodes and one of the most prevalent diseas...

Trichuris trichiura is a parasite found in human intestines. Also known as the human whipworm, this parasite’s adult and larval forms can l...

In 1976, the nation celebrated the American bicentennial. One event, a convention of members of the American Legion in Philadelphia, had tr...

In 1993, almost 25% of the residents of Milwaukee, Wisconsin came down with severe stomach cramps, fever, and diarrhea. Over 100, mostly el...

Seems like everyone's been kind of gaga over vampires lately, so thought I would use a vampire as today's parasite. Vandellia cirrh...

Blame Borrelia burgdorferi for one of the most common vector-borne diseases in the United States: Lyme disease. Discovered in 1982 by NIAID...

What do parents dread their children bringing home from school more than a bad report card? Pediculus humanus capitis , better known as hea...

Trypanosoma brucei is the causative agent of sleeping sickness, a disease found in sub-Saharan Africa. Trypanosomes are flagellated unicel...

Blame it on the cat. Or the raw meat. Exposure to either can result in infection with Toxoplasma gondii . Distant relatives of Plasmodiu...

Did you overindulge at the holidays? Gym's been too crowded? Well, there might be another solution: infect yourself with the beef tap...

Plasmodium falciparum Welch 1897 (Apicomplexa: Haemosporida) is one of the handful of species of malaria parasites that infect humans as th...