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[Leishmania spp.]

Amastigotes of Leishmania are spherical to ovoid and measure 1-5 µm long by 1-2 µm wide.  They possess a large nucleus, a prominent kinetoplast, and a short axoneme, the last of which is rarely visible by light microscopy.  The organisms reside in macrophages of the host and can be found throughout the body.

A	B

A:  Leishmania spp. amastigotes in a Giemsa-stained tissue scraping.
B:  Leishmania (Viannia) panamensis amastigotes in a Giemsa-stained tissue scraping.  Identification to the species level is not possible based on morphology and other diagnostic techniques such isoenzyme assay or PCR are needed.

C	D

C, D:  Leishmania (Viannia) panamensis amastigotes in a Giemsa-stained tissue scraping.