ICAR AIEEA (PG): Master's entrance, Veterinary Science and Animal Sciences · India · NTA for ICAR
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersBlood and gut protozoa of domestic animals, including trypanosomes, Babesia, Theileria and coccidia, with Anaplasma taught alongside, and their diagnosis and treatment.
In the exams: ICAR AICE-JRF core group 06; ICAR AIEEA-PG 13 (Parasitology)
ICAR AIEEA (PG) — Code 13 Veterinary Science (Parasitology)
Vectors and modes of transmission (transovarial versus trans-stadial, mechanical versus cyclical), morphology in smears (B. bigemina versus B. bovis, Koch's blue bodies, T. evansi), oocyst structure of Eimeria versus Cystoisospora, predilection sites of poultry Eimeria, definitive hosts of Toxoplasma and Neospora, and the drug of choice for each disease.
How our questions for ICAR AIEEA spread across the units of Veterinary Protozoology. Difficulty: 24 easy, 14 medium, 3 hard.
| Babesia | 5 | |
| Diagnosis of protozoal infections | 5 | |
| Trypanosoma and surra | 4 | |
| Eimeria and coccidiosis | 4 | |
| Toxoplasma | 4 | |
| Theileria | 3 | |
| Histomonas | 3 | |
| Leishmania | 3 | |
| Antiprotozoal chemotherapy | 3 | |
| Anaplasma (rickettsial, taught alongside protozoa) | 2 | |
| Cryptosporidium | 2 | |
| Trichomonas | 2 | |
| Giardia | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
Haemoglobinuria ('redwater') in bovine babesiosis results mainly from:
C. Intravascular haemolysis as parasites leave red cells
In babesiosis red cells rupture inside vessels, freeing haemoglobin that exceeds haptoglobin binding and passes into urine. Extravascular haemolysis, as in anaplasmosis, causes anaemia and jaundice without haemoglobinuria.
Further reading: Taylor, Coop & Wall, Veterinary Parasitology (4th ed.)
Koch's blue bodies seen in lymph node smears of cattle with theileriosis are:
B. Schizonts in leucocytes
Koch's blue bodies are the multinucleate schizonts of Theileria in lymphoid cells. Piroplasms are the red-cell stage; rickettsial inclusions in neutrophils describe A. phagocytophilum. The host cells are lymphocytes or macrophages.
Further reading: Taylor, Coop & Wall, Veterinary Parasitology (4th ed.)
Anaplasma marginale is best classified as:
D. A rickettsial Gram-negative bacterium of the order Rickettsiales
Anaplasma is an obligate intracellular bacterium (family Anaplasmataceae) taught with the protozoa because it shares vectors and diagnostic smears. It is not an apicomplexan or a flagellate; haemotropic mycoplasmas are a separate group.
Further reading: Taylor, Coop & Wall, Veterinary Parasitology (4th ed.)
White transverse ladder-like lesions in the duodenum of chickens are typical of:
A. Eimeria acervulina
E. acervulina affects the duodenum with white transverse plaques. E. necatrix affects the mid small intestine with ballooning and petechiae; E. brunetti affects the lower intestine and rectum; E. tenella the caeca.
Further reading: Taylor, Coop & Wall, Veterinary Parasitology (4th ed.)
The definitive host of Toxoplasma gondii is the:
C. Cat and other felids
Only felids support the sexual cycle and shed oocysts. Dogs, sheep, rats and people are intermediate hosts carrying tissue cysts.
Further reading: Taylor, Coop & Wall, Veterinary Parasitology (4th ed.)
Cryptosporidium oocysts are best demonstrated in a faecal smear stained by:
D. Modified Ziehl-Neelsen (acid-fast) stain
Oocysts stain pink-red against a blue or green background with the modified ZN method. Gram stain is for bacteria; thick films are blood preparations; iodine suits Giardia cysts better.
Further reading: Taylor, Coop & Wall, Veterinary Parasitology (4th ed.)
Where does Cryptosporidium develop in the host enterocyte?
D. Intracellular but extracytoplasmic, in a vacuole at the brush border
Cryptosporidium sits in a parasitophorous vacuole at the microvillous surface, enclosed by host membrane but outside the cytoplasm. The adhesive disc belongs to Giardia; deep meronts to E. tenella.
Further reading: Taylor, Coop & Wall, Veterinary Parasitology (4th ed.)
The trophozoite of Giardia duodenalis is characterised by:
A. Two nuclei, four pairs of flagella and a ventral adhesive disc
The bilaterally symmetrical, 'face-like' Giardia trophozoite has two nuclei, eight flagella and an adhesive disc. Three anterior flagella with an undulating membrane describe Tritrichomonas foetus; four nuclei and a wall describe the Giardia cyst.
Further reading: Taylor, Coop & Wall, Veterinary Parasitology (4th ed.)
In the caecal lumen Histomonas meleagridis appears as a:
B. Flagellated form with a single flagellum
In the lumen Histomonas is flagellated (usually one flagellum); in tissues it is amoeboid. It forms no oocyst, and it is not a trypanosome.
Further reading: Taylor, Coop & Wall, Veterinary Parasitology (4th ed.)
Which serological test is regarded as the historical reference test for Toxoplasma antibodies?
B. Sabin-Feldman dye test
The Sabin-Feldman dye test, using live tachyzoites, was the classic reference test. The Rose Bengal test is for brucellosis; the Coggins test for equine infectious anaemia.
Further reading: Taylor, Coop & Wall, Veterinary Parasitology (4th ed.)
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