Tissue Cyst Forming Coccidian Flashcards

Question	Answer		Article
What are the two main species of Neospora of veterinary interest and which animals do they affect?	N. caninum Dogs N. hughesi Horses		Link to Article
How long is the prepatent period of Neospora?	5 days		Link to Article
What are the clinical signs of Neospora infections in dogs?	Ascending paralysis Sudden collapse due to myocarditis Muscle wasting		Link to Article
What are the clinical signs of Neospora infections in cattle?	Abortion Encephalomyelitis Paresis		Link to Article
What are the clinical signs of Neospora infections in horses?	Myeloencephalitis		Link to Article
How many intermediate and final hosts does Sarcocystis have?	One final host One intermediate host		Link to Article
True or False: Sarcocystis infections are mainly asymptomatic	True		Link to Article
What is Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis?	Necrotising encephalomyelitis affecting the grey and white matter of the CNS Caused by S. neurona Causes spinal cord dysfunction leading to ataxia and paralysis		Link to Article
What is the most pathogenic species of Toxoplasma?	T. gondii		Link to Article
True or False: The life cycle of Toxoplasma is direct	False The life cycle is complex Described as facultatively heterozygous		Link to Article
Describe the acute phase of Toxoplasma infections	Asexual reproduction in the cell by endodyogeny (budding) producing 8-16 tachyzoites Tachyzoites are released when host cell bursts Haematogenous spread as more cells are infected Infection continues until the animal develops immunity (around 2 weeks) at which point the infection enters the chronic phase		Link to Article
Describe the chronic phase of Toxoplasma infections	Slow growing intracellular bradyzoites become walled off forming infective cysts Bradyzoites are protected from the host immune response (whereas extracellular tachyzoites are killed) Cysts remain viable for months to years in muscle and nervous tissue If immunity is suppressed the infection can revert to the acute form		Link to Article
How can Toxoplasma infections be prevented?	ELISA to check for seropositive cats Humans can avoid oocyst ingestion Humans can avoid tissue cyst ingestion Sheep can be vaccinated or given medicated feed		Link to Article