University of Basrah Organizes Workshop on the Relationship Between Aquatic Organisms and Parasites
The Marine Science Center at the University of Basrah organized a workshop entitled "Aquatic Organisms as Intermediate Hosts for Some Parasites."
The workshop aimed to highlight the pivotal role of aquatic organisms, such as fish, crustaceans, and mollusks, in the life cycle of parasites and how they act as intermediate hosts for transmitting infections to definitive hosts, including humans and aquatic mammals.
The workshop, presented by faculty member Hanan Abdul-Zahra Salboukh, covered several topics, including fundamental concepts such as defining intermediate and definitive hosts and the parasite's life cycle. Emphasis was placed on the differences between these parasites in aquatic environments, with examples of important parasites that use aquatic organisms as intermediate hosts. These include liver flukes such as Clonorchis sinensis and Fasciola, where fish or aquatic snails act as intermediate hosts; tapeworms such as Diphyllobothrium latum, which rely on copepods and then fish as intermediate hosts; and protozoa such as Henneguya and Tetrahymena, which infect fish. The workshop also explained how the larval stages of the parasite are transferred to the intermediate host and how they reproduce or develop within it.
Department of Media and Government Communication
