Trypanosoma lewisi

Trypanosoma lewisi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Phylum: Euglenozoa
Class: Kinetoplastea
Order: Trypanosomatida
Family: Trypanosomatidae
Genus: Trypanosoma
Species:
T. lewisi
Binomial name
Trypanosoma lewisi
(Kent, 1880)

Trypanosoma lewisi is a globally distributed parasite of Rattus species and other rodents such as mice, and of kangaroo rats in America. Among these host species were two endemic species of rats: Rattus macleari and Rattus nativitatis. Both are now believed to be extinct. It is not very clear whether or not the same parasite infected both species. However, both parasites are very similar. The northern rat flea (Nosopsyllus fasciatus) acts as the vector for the parasite, harboring the epimastigote stage in its midgut.[1] The trypomastigote is the stage that is present in the main host, the rodent. The epimastigote form attaches itself to the rectum of the insect using its flagella to burrow through the rectal walls.[2] The parasites also appear in the flea's feces. Ingestion of either the flea or its feces during grooming infects the host rodent with the parasites.[3] T. lewisi is normally non-pathogenic but is known to have produced fatal infections in rats.[4]

  1. ^ Judge, David M. (December 1964). "Ultrastructure of Trypanosoma lewisi". The Journal of Parasitology. 50 (6): 757–762. doi:10.2307/3276198. JSTOR 3276198. PMID 14244808.
  2. ^ Molyneux, David H. (1969). "The fine-structure of the epimastigote forms of Trypanosoma lewisi in the rectum of the flea, Nosopsyllus fasciatus". Parasitology. 59 (1): 55–66. doi:10.1017/S0031182000069821. PMID 5769498. S2CID 40742998.
  3. ^ Proulx, Chantal; Olivier, Martin; Mora, Lydia; Tanner, C. E. (December 1989). "Infectivity and Route of Penetration in Rats after Oral and Intraperitoneal Inoculations of Bloodstream and In vitro-Cultured Metacyclic Forms of Trypanosoma lewisi". The Journal of Parasitology. 75 (6): 964–969. doi:10.2307/3282878. JSTOR 3282878. PMID 2693677.
  4. ^ Brown, Wade H. (April 1914). "A Note on the Pathogenicity of Trypanosoma lewisi". J Exp Med. 19 (4): 406–410. doi:10.1084/jem.19.4.406. PMC 2125167. PMID 19867780.