Glossary

Cyst (encysted)
a closed sac having a distinct membrane and developing abnormally in a cavity or structure of the body; a resistant cover about a parasite produced by the parasite or the host

Eosinophils
A type of polymorphonuclear leukocyte containing eosin-staining granules. Although the activity of eosinophils is not entirely clear, they are known to destroy parasitic organisms and play a major role in allergic reactions. They also secrete chemical mediators that can cause bronchoconstriction in asthma. Eosinophils make up one to three percent of the total white blood cell count.

Epidemilogy
a branch of medical science that deals with the incidence, distribution, and control of disease in a population
2 : the sum of the factors controlling the presence or absence of a disease or pathogen

Morphology
the form and structure of an organism or any of its parts

Pathology
the study of the essential nature of diseases
and especially of the structural and functional
changes produced by them 2 : something abnormal: a : the structural and functional deviations from the normal that constitute disease or characterize a particular disease b : deviation from propriety or from an assumed normal state of something nonliving or nonmaterial

Platyhelminthes
'characterized by flat bilaterally symmetric body.  Most flatworms are hermaphroditic (Markell, ). 
Cestodes: 'typically have an elongate, ribbon like segmented body that bears a specialized attachment organ, the scolex, anteriorly.  (Markell, )


Reservoir
an organism in which a parasite that is pathogenic for some other species lives and multiplies without damaging its host; also : a noneconomic organism within which a pathogen of economic or medical importance flourishes

Vector
an organism (as an insect) that transmits a pathogen