Answer to Case 741

 Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 741:Mansonella ozzardiAs many of you noted, we can get to an identification of Mansonellasp. by the small size (length of just 175 micrometers, and the width less than the surrounding white blood cells). There is also no visible sheath, which is supportive of the diagnosis. So the next question is - whichMansonellais present?? As FloridaFan mentioned, the tip of the tail is pointed rather than blunt, which leads us away fromM. perstans. Also, the source is not skin snips, soM. streptocercais unlikely. That leavesM. ozzardiby default. To confirm this, we would look at the tail to see if the nuclei go to the tip (M. perstans) or not (M. ozzardi). It ' s a bit hard to tell in this case, but if you look closely, you can see that the nuclei DON ' T go to the tip of the tail. So -Mansonella ozzardi, it is!Congratulations to those of you who were able to get toMansonellaspecies. The microfilariae can be hard to identify, so this is definitely advanced  parasitology!
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs