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Medical
& Veterinary Research
Leucocytozoonosis
is a disease caused by protozoan blood parasites of the genus Leucocytozoon that
is mainly transmitted by the bite of various species of black
fly (Simuliidae). Both wild and domestic bird species are
susceptible to infection with Leucocytozoon species,
including: chickens (L. caulleryi), ducks &
geese (L. simondi), turkeys (L. smithi),
pigeons
& doves (L. marchouxi) and raptors (L. ziemanni and L.
toddi). There has long been confusion in the authorship
and date of the generic name, and the name of its type species.
This uncertainty has been removed on behalf of the veterinary
and pharmaceutical professions by a Commission ruling. [2001]
Schistosomiasis
photo
credit: © Natural History Museum, London
Schistosomiasis
(also known as bilharzia or ‘snail fever’)
is a parasitic disease of significant medical and veterinary
importance. The main forms of human schistosomiasis are
caused by five species of the flatworms, or blood flukes,
known as schistosomes: Schistosoma haematobium, S.
mansoni, S. japonicum, S. mekongi and S.
intercalatum. Schistosomiasis infects more than 200
million people worldwide resulting in severe morbidity
and mortality. Schistosomes have complex life cycles involving
specific freshwater snail species as intermediate hosts.
In Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen the flukes use a freshwater
snail, Bulinus wrighti, as an intermediate host.
The Commission acted to ensure that the well-known name
for this snail was preserved, so assisting researchers
who are working to control schistosomiasis in these countries.
[2001]
Isosporosis
is a form of the disease coccidiosis that occurs in humans
and other animals. The generic name Isospora is
in wide use for the protozoa that cause it. The Commission
was asked on behalf of the medical and veterinary professions
to stabilise usage of the name by designation of Isospora
suis (a parasite of pigs) as the type species that
defines the genus. However, protistologists discussed
this and alternative proposals at the 10th International
Congress of Parasitology (Canada, 2002), and recommended
in a recent comment published in the Bulletin that the
Commission should not rule on this proposal until further
discussions and research, currently being undertaken,
have reached a conclusion. [2004]
The
Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences
(CIOMS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) published
five volumes of the International Nomenclature of Diseases
to facilitate communication between health workers throughout
the world by providing a truly international language
of diseases; a single recommended name was provided for
every morbid entity. The Commission was contracted to
verify the nomenclatural status of the 920 parasites
listed in the volume on parasitic diseases. Arising from
this action, the Commission Secretariat prepared and
published, in the Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature,
proposals to stabilise the following important parasitic
names: Hymenolepis, Echinococcus and Anoplocephala (Cestoda); Rhabditis (Nematoda); Trichomonas and Trypanosoma
brucei (Protozoa). [1987]
Mosquitoes
are one of the most efficient vectors for human pathogens,
probably responsible for transmitting more than 100 of
them, causing a range of diseases, with malaria, dengue
and yellow fever being the illnesses most associated
with them. Malaria is found throughout the tropical and
sub-tropical regions of the world and causes more than
300 million acute illnesses and at least one million
deaths annually. There are estimated to be at least 200,000
cases of yellow fever, with 30,000 deaths per year. The
Commission has ruled on a number of cases involving mosquitoes
to stabilise the nomenclature of these important disease
vectors, including: the subfamily name Anophelinae; the
generic name Anopheles (vectors of the four
types of human malaria); the specific name Aedes
aegypti (the primary vector of dengue and yellow
fever); and many specific names within the genus Culex.
[1959-1994]
Dermacentor andersoni
photo
credit: © Natural History Museum, London
Ticks
(Acari) are important vectors of potentially debilitating
and life-threatening diseases. There are more than 800
species of these obligate blood-sucking organisms. Diseases
carried by ticks are transmissible between animals and
humans (zoonotic diseases). Ticks can carry a remarkable
array of pathogens including bacteria, spirochetes, rickettsia,
protozoa, viruses and nematodes. The diseases these pathogens
cause include babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain
spotted fever, tularaemia, tick paralysis, tick typhus
and Lyme’s disease. Three genera of ticks are of
significant medical and veterinary importance: Dermacentor, Ixodes (species
of this genus transmit Lyme’s disease) and Rhipicephalus.
The Commission has ruled to stabilise the nomenclature
of these genera and of species within them, including: D.
andersoni (vector of Rickettsia rickettsia), I.
angustus, I. woodi and R. sanguineus (vector
for a wide range of infectious agents). [1922-1991]
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