Trypanosoma brucei
Trypanosoma brucei is a parasitic protozoan transmitted by tsetse flies in sub-Saharan Africa, causing sleeping sickness in humans and a related disease in cattle called nagana.
The parasite evades the immune system by continuously changing its surface proteins, making vaccine development notoriously difficult.
The researchers studied Trypanosoma brucei's mechanism of immune evasion.
- sub-Saharan AfricaContinent south of Sahara
- protozoaSingle-celled eukaryotic organisms
- sleeping sicknessParasitic disease causing prolonged drowsiness
- flagellateTo whip or scourge
- eukaryoteOrganism with nucleated cells
parasite · bloodstream infection · zoonosis · pathogen · parasitic infection · neurological disorder · Africa · brain · microscope · bite · vector · cerebral · colonial · fly · coma · swelling · infection · epidemic
- Blood ParasitesBabesia, Trypanosoma cruzi
- TrypanosomesTrypanosoma cruzi, flagellum, undulating membrane
- brain parasitesbrain parasites, brain worm, brain-eating amoeba, neurocysticercosis, Toxoplasma gondii