African sleeping sickness

[Pat Thielen]

Here is a photo I took of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense, or the parasite that causes African sleeping sickness. This is a truly terrible disease spread by the tsetse fly in many parts of Africa. It is one of the few pathogens that is able to cross the blood-brain barrier which makes it truly dangerous (and typically quite deadly). Up close they almost look like they have eyes and resemble a tiny eel. These were photographed at a total magnification of 1,000x using an oil-immersion lens. Let me know what you think if you should feel so inclined.

[McConkey]

Incredible to think something so small can be so destructive! Thanks for sharing! I've never seen pathogens imaged before so for me this is really neat. Is this from a permanent mounted slide or a live sample?

I really like how much detail you've capture in these little guys! They appear to be spotted too, especially the one in the upper right corner which fascinates me!

Great capture, thanks for sharing!

[Pat Thielen]

Sorry -- I forgot to post the source (this isn't from my own blood sample!). This was taken from a slide I bought from Triarch Inc. in Ripon, Wisconsin. They have quite a variety of slides of many subjects and they have reasonable prices.

Pathogens are something that I'm quite interested in -- Parasites as well. And I agree; it is amazing how something so small can be so destructive. And then I think of viruses and their very tiny size; 50 nano-meters of wicked multiplying death!

Some time ago I posted a photo of anthrax that turned out not too bad. It was my first-ever attempt at using an oil immersion lens. I think this photo may have been my second!

[McConkey]

Really happy to hear its not from a live blood sample!!

Thanks for the supplier info! Always good to know where slides are available from!

Took a look at the anthrax image you reference! Really amazing stuff! You wouldn't know that these were your first oil immersed 100x images! Great work!

[Pat Thielen]

Really happy to hear its not from a live blood sample!!

Thanks for the supplier info! Always good to know where slides are available from!

Took a look at the anthrax image you reference! Really amazing stuff! You wouldn't know that these were your first oil immersed 100x images! Great work!

Thanks. I got very lucky and I followed some very good advice I got in these forums. I thought it really odd at the time that I had never used an oil immersion lens over all these years but my first scope didn't have one. I really like the fact that there is always something to learn!

The Anthrax bacteria are around 8 microns in length (just as a size reference). They are actually quite large as far as bacteria go which make them quite interesting to look at. I think in that image you can see the cell walls and even some internal features.

[charlie g]

Thanks, Pat for sharing your specimen slides with us all, and for comments you give about these prepared slides. This particular slide humbles me to think of the dreadful dance, the horrid suffering and mortality on people which these particular protozoas effect in their and ours mutual sharing of planet earth. For all the fiercness of man-eating tigers, lethal water buffalo havoc, these 'parasites with intricate insect stages and more cycles..well it gives microscopy world views on just what is :predator of humans,,vrs organisms which 'eat us from the inside'!

Your posting of microscopy image captures is useful for we forum folk, the specimens you post are awesome in their importance to our humanity...wow!

This thread on a prepared slide to discuss and 'flesh out'..for me it's like a sort of: microscopy book club shared conversations...thanks, Pat! Charlie guevara

[MicroBob]

Hi Pat,

thank you for showing! It's fine to see that you finally found a source for pathogene slides. From the times of Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur on this was a very important topic for many decades. This was the time when they even made small field microscopes like the Hensold Protami with oil immersion lenses.
I played around with your image a bit If this is not ok for you I will remove it.

Bob

[Jonnyvine]

Nice