Phlebotomus papatasi sandfly biting a person
Phlebotomus papatasi sandfly biting a person. The sandflies are members of the Dipteran family, Psychodidae. This specimen was still in the process of ingestg its bloodmeal, which is visible through its distended transparent abdomen. Sandflies such as this are responsible for the spread of the vector-borne parasitic disease Leishmaniasis, which is caused by the obligate intracellular protozoa of the genus Leishmania. Leishmaniasis is transmitted by the bite of infected female phlebotomine sandflies, injecting the infective stage (, promastigotes) from their proboscis during blood meals. Promastigotes that reach the puncture wound are phagocytized by macrophages ,and other types of mononuclear phagocytic cells, and inside these cells, transform into the tissue stage of the parasite (, amastigotes), which multiply by simple division and proceed to infect other mononuclear phagocytic cells. Parasite, host, and other factors affect whether the infection becomes symptomatic and whether cutaneous or visceral leishmaniasis results.
Size: 5100px × 3427px
Photo credit: © Scott Camazine / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: amastigote, biting, close-, color, disease, fly, healthcare, horizontal, human, illness, image, infection, infective, insect, leishmania, leishmaniasis, medicine, mosquito, papatasi, parasite, parasitic, people, phlebotomus, photography, promastigote, sand, sandfly, science, shot, skin, studio, vector
