Trypanosomiases and leishmaniases are caused by haemoflagellated protozoan parasites that belong to the family of the Trypanosomatidae.
Trypanosomatidae, or trypanosomes, are members of the protist order Kinetoplastida, which can be divided in Bodonina and Trypanosomatina. Contrary to the Bodonina, which can be divided in the free-living Bodonidae and the parasitic Cryptobiae, all Trypanosomatidae, without exception, are parasitic. They are flagellated and parasitise all major groups of multicellular organisms such as insects, plants and animals. They can either be extracellular or intracellular and have a great variety of shapes, depending on the stage of the life cycle and their location within the host.
The following parasite-host associations are known:
Click here to see the morphology of trypanosomes