Sunday, May 3, 2009

Answer to Case 68

Answer: Balantidium coli

This organism is the only ciliated parasite to infect humans. At 80 microns or larger in longest dimension, it is also the largest protozoan to infect humans. Shown here is the classic ciliated oval trophozoite with 'sausage' or 'kidney bean' shaped nucleus.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

When I first learned the B. coli had a "boring" motility, I concluded, literally for months that that meant "uninteresting"!
BW in VT