Herpetomonas

(her-pet-om’on-as) [Gr. ἑρπετόν creeper + μονάς monad]. A genus of flagellate animal microparasites found in the intestines of insects and in the blood of various animals. Ἐ. donova’ni, the parasite of kala-azar. In the human body it occurs in the form of small oval or round protozoan bodies found in the spleen, liver, bone-marrow, and the blood. In this form they are known as Leishman-Donovan bodies. The parasite is transmitted by the bite of the bedbug, Cimex rotund at us. The parasite lives its free life in the intestine of the bedbug. In the human body it is parasitic in the endothelial cells. Called also Leishmania donovani and Piroplasma donovani. H. infan’tum, a species from a disease of dogs which may be transmitted to children. H. trop‘ica. See Helcosoma tropicum. Pertaining