Trypanosoma cruzi is a single-celled parasite, first described in 1909 by the Brazilian physician Carlos Chagas, and the causative agent of Chagas disease. It is a tropical vector disease that occurs in humans, among others, and mainly in South America.
It is a protozoan and is transmitted to humans and other mammals mainly by the bug Triatoma infestans. It currently affects 16-20 million people, and about 100 million are estimated to be potentially exposed to the risk of infection; about 15,000 persons die annually from this infection.
In the preparation, a section through infected heart muscle, we see intracellular amastigotes with Leishmania forms.
More detailed information about this parasite and its life cycle, can be found among others here.
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