Chilomastix mesnili

Chilomastix mesnili
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Chromalveolata
Division:	Heterokontophyta
Class:	Mastigophora
Order:	Polymastigina
Family:	Tetramitidae
Genus:	Chilomastix
Species:	C. mesnili
Binomial name
Chilomastix mesnili (Wenyon, 1910)

Chilomastix mesnili is a parasite.^[1] It infects about 3.5% of the population in the United States. It is found in humans, chimpanzees, orangutans, monkeys, and pigs. It lives in the cecum and colon. C. mesnili has a similar life style to Giardia lamblia.

Although Chilomastix mesnili is considered non-pathogenic, it often occurs with other parasite infections. C. mesnili may be confused with other pathogenic species during diagnosis. It can create a false positive which would result in unnecessary treatment or a false negative which would withhold necessary treatment.

References

1. ^ B. Levecke, P. Dorny, T. Geurden, F. Vercammen & J. Vercruysse (September 2007). "Gastrointestinal protozoa in non-human primates of four zoological gardens in Belgium". Veterinary Parasitology 148 (3–4): 236–246. doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2007.06.020. PMID 17656023. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0304-4017(07)00314-7. 

Sources

Schmidt, G. and Roberts, L. 2005. Foundations of Parasitology (7th ed.), New York: McGraw-Hill