Trypanosoma

Pronunciation: tri-pan′ō-sō′mă, trip′ă-nō-

Definition: A genus of asexual digenetic protozoan flagellates (family Trypanosomatidae) that have a spindle-shaped body with an undulating membrane on one side, a single anterior flagellum, and a kinetoplast; they are parasitic in the blood plasma of many vertebrates (only a few being pathogenic) and as a rule have an intermediate host, a bloodsucking invertebrate, such as a leech, tick, or insect; pathogenic species cause trypanosomiasis in humans and other diseases in domestic animals.

[G. trypanon, an auger, + sōma, body]

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