• Question: How big are the flesh eating parasites?

    Asked by footylad12 to Tim on 16 Nov 2012.
    • Photo: Tim Downing

      Tim Downing answered on 16 Nov 2012:

      Hi Laura,

      I examine single-cell parasites called Leishmania (pronounced “leash-mane-ee-aa”). These are much smaller than human cells and have little tails, and are spread from sandfly to humans.

      You can see pictures of them here to get an idea:
      – parasites in liver tissue

      And here as small wine-purple ovals around the bigger human cells

      These were taken using high-powered microscopes so you can see how much smaller they are.

      Tim

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