Leishmaniasis

taxonomy

• phylum Sarcomastigophorea, class Zoomastigophorea, genus Leishmania
  • Plasmodium belongs to phylum Apicomplexa

morphology

• single flagellum
• kinetoplast
• similar to Trypanosoma

life cycle

• promastigote - 10-25 μm
  • with flagellum
  • phagocytized by macrophage
• amastigote - 2-4 μm
  • transform from promastigote inside macrophage
  • transform to promastigote inside sandfly midgut
• simpler than Trypanosoma
• vector: sandfly
• host: human, dog, rodent