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Balantidium coli is a parasitic species of ciliate alveolates that causes the disease balantidiasis. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] It is the only member of the ciliate phylum known to be pathogenic to humans. [ 1 ] [ 2 ]
A trophozoite of Balantidium coli. The first study to generate balantidiasis in humans was undertaken by Cassagrandi and Barnagallo in 1896. [8] However, this experiment was not successful in creating an infection and it was unclear whether Balantidium coli was the actual parasite used. [8]
Balantidium coli is one of the species that has been reclassified. It has also been proposed that it is a junior synonym of genus Balantioides–which has B. coli as the type species. [6] The closest known relative of this genus is Buxtonella sulcata, a parasite of cattle.
Balantidium coli: intestinal mucosa, may become invasive in some patients stool (diarrhea=ciliated trophozoite; solid stool=large cyst with horseshoe shaped nucleus) ingestion of cyst, zoonotic infection acquired from pigs (feces) Blastocystosis: Blastocystis spp. intestinal direct microscopy of stool (PCR, antibody)
These include the species Balantidium coli, which is the only ciliate parasitic in humans. The group Rhynchostomatia includes two free-living orders previously included among the Haptoria, but now known to be genetically distinct from them, the Dileptida and the Tracheliida. [2] [3]
Balantidium coli is the causative agent of balantidiasis. In the apicomplexan life cycle the trophozoite undergoes schizogony (asexual reproduction) and develops into a schizont which contains merozoites.
The only member of the ciliate phylum known to be pathogenic to humans is Balantidium coli, [36] which causes the disease balantidiasis. It is not pathogenic to the domestic pig, the primary reservoir of this pathogen. [37]
The Balantidium coli species has a worldwide distribution, but is more frequent in subtropical and temperate climates. The medical condition balantidiasis is particularly prevalent where poor hygiene and undernourishment weaken a population coincide with living in close contact with pigs, the main reservoir for the species.