Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include seizures, hallucinations, trouble speaking, memory problems, and problems with hearing.
West Nile fever is an infection by the West Nile virus, which is typically spread by mosquitoes. In about 80% of infections people have few or no symptoms. About 20% of people develop a fever, headache, vomiting, or a rash. In less than 1% of people, encephalitis or meningitis occurs, with associated neck stiffness, confusion, or seizures. Recovery may take weeks to months. The risk of death among those in whom the nervous system is affected is about 10 percent.
Toxoplasma gondii is a parasitic protozoan that causes toxoplasmosis. Found worldwide, T. gondii is capable of infecting virtually all warm-blooded animals, but felids are the only known definitive hosts in which the parasite may undergo sexual reproduction.
The rock dove, rock pigeon, or common pigeon is a member of the bird family Columbidae. In common usage, it is often simply referred to as the "pigeon".
Feral pigeons, also called city doves, city pigeons, or street pigeons, are descendants of domestic pigeons that have returned to the wild. The domestic pigeon was originally bred from the wild rock dove, which naturally inhabits sea-cliffs and mountains. Rock, domestic, and feral pigeons are all the same species and will readily interbreed. Feral pigeons find the ledges of buildings to be a substitute for sea cliffs, have become adapted to urban life, and are abundant in towns and cities throughout much of the world.
Free-living amoebae in the Amoebozoa group are important causes of disease in humans and animals.
Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease of the intestinal tract of animals caused by coccidian protozoa. The disease spreads from one animal to another by contact with infected feces or ingestion of infected tissue. Diarrhea, which may become bloody in severe cases, is the primary symptom. Most animals infected with coccidia are asymptomatic, but young or immunocompromised animals may suffer severe symptoms and death.
Besnoitia besnoiti is an apicomplexan protozoan parasite, closely related to Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum,. It is part of a larger genus Besnoiti affecting multiple animal species, but Besnoita besnoiti, can affect livestock. and more specifically cattle as intermediate host, although some specific antibodies have been found in roe deer and red deer.
Meningoencephalitis, also known as herpes meningoencephalitis, is a medical condition that simultaneously resembles both meningitis, which is an infection or inflammation of the meninges, and encephalitis, which is an infection or inflammation of the brain tissue.
Dientamoebiasis is a medical condition caused by infection with Dientamoeba fragilis, a single-cell parasite that infects the lower gastrointestinal tract of humans. It is an important cause of traveler's diarrhea, chronic abdominal pain, chronic fatigue, and failure to thrive in children.
Sarcocystis is a genus of protozoan parasites, with many species infecting mammals, reptiles and birds. Its name is dervived from Greek sarx = flesh and kystis = bladder.
Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM), is a disease caused by the apicomplexan parasite Sarcocystis neurona that affects the central nervous system of horses.
Balamuthia mandrillaris is a free-living amoeba that causes the rare but deadly neurological condition granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE). B. mandrillaris is a soil-dwelling amoeba and was first discovered in 1986 in the brain of a mandrill that died in the San Diego Wild Animal Park.
Miltefosine, sold under the trade name Impavido among others, is a medication mainly used to treat leishmaniasis and free-living amoeba infections such as Naegleria fowleri and Balamuthia mandrillaris. This includes the three forms of leishmaniasis: cutaneous, visceral and mucosal. It may be used with liposomal amphotericin B or paromomycin. It is taken by mouth.
Haemoproteus is a genus of alveolates that are parasitic in birds, reptiles and amphibians. Its name is derived from Greek: Haima, "blood", and Proteus, a sea god who had the power of assuming different shapes. The name Haemoproteus was first used in the description of H. columbae in the blood of the pigeon Columba livia by Kruse in 1890. This was also the first description of this genus. Two other genera — Halteridium and Simondia — are now considered to be synonyms of Haemoproteus.
Amoebiasis, or amoebic dysentery, is an infection of the intestines caused by a parasitic amoeba Entamoeba histolytica. Amoebiasis can be present with no, mild, or severe symptoms. Symptoms may include lethargy, loss of weight, colonic ulcerations, abdominal pain, diarrhea, or bloody diarrhea. Complications can include inflammation and ulceration of the colon with tissue death or perforation, which may result in peritonitis. Anemia may develop due to prolonged gastric bleeding.
Trichomonas gallinae is a cosmopolitan parasite of birds including finches, pigeons, doves, turkeys, chickens, parrots, raptors. The condition in birds of prey is called frounce. It is believed to be an ancient pathogen causing frounce-like symptoms in theropod dinosaurs. The same condition in pigeons is commonly called canker.
Frenkelia is a genus of parasites in the phylum Apicomplexa. The species in this genus infect the gastrointestinal tracts of birds of prey and the tissues of small rodents.
Naegleria fowleri, colloquially known as the "brain-eating amoeba", is a species of the genus Naegleria. It belongs to the phylum Percolozoa and is technically classified as a shape-shifting amoeboflagellate excavate, rather than a true amoeba. This free-living microorganism primarily feeds on bacteria but can become pathogenic, causing an extremely rare, sudden, severe, and usually fatal brain infection known as naegleriasis or primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM).
Sarcocystis neurona is primarily a neural parasite of horses and its management is of concern in veterinarian medicine. The protozoan Sarcocystis neurona is a protozoan of single celled character and belongs to the family, Sarcocystidae, a group called coccidia. The protozoan, S. neurona, is a member of the genus Sarcocystis, and is most commonly associated with equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). The protozoan, S. neurona, can be easily cultivated and genetically manipulated, hence its common use as a model to study numerous aspects of cell biology.
