The specimen provided is a section of heart tissue from an autopsy performed on a recent immigrant from Lima, Peru. The 56 year old subject died in hospital from cardiac failure after a long history of heart trouble.


1) Identify the parasite shown in the specimen (genus and species)

Trypansoma cruzi
2) What stage of the parasite is shown on the slide ?

Amastigote
3) In what way(s) could the parasite have contributed to his condition ?

Presence of parasite in cardiac muscle causing progressive heart failure
4) Could the patient have contracted the parasite after he had arrived in Australia?

Not likely - not considered to be endemic to Australia