Question

Mr. L was walking through the woods wearing shorts and sandals. He noticed a small tick on his ankle the same evening, and several weeks later he developed flu-like symptoms. A sample of his blood revealed the presence of long, wavelike cells that were twisting and waving. Based on the microscopic findings, which type of microorganism is responsible for Mr. L's symptoms

Answer 1

Answer:

Protozoa

Explanation:

The long, wavelike cells seen under the microscope would most likely be protozoa and the microorganism responsible for Mr. L's symptoms.

Tick as a vector is capable of causing diseases such as lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Powassan virus disease, tularemia, and a host of other diseases. Among all the diseases, babesiosis is particularly caused by a protozoan known as Babesia microti and it elicits malaria-like symptoms in individuals. Most of the other diseases are caused by bacteria pathogens while a few are caused by virus.

Apart from the above, the morphological characterization of the microorganism responsible for Mr. L's disease is typical for protozoans. Many of them are long and flagellated with a wave-like motion as a movement.

Hence, the case of Mr. L would be that of protozoa.