Trichuris, often referred to as whipworms (which typically refers to T. trichiura only in medicine, and to any other species in veterinary medicine), is a genus of parasitic worms from the roundworm family Trichuridae, which are helminths. The name whipworm refers to the shape of the worm; they look like whips with wider "handles" at the posterior end. The name Trichocephalus is sometimes used for this genus.[1]
The genus Trichuris includes over 20 species, which infect the large intestine of their host, including:
A new species - as yet unnamed - has been identified in François’ leaf monkey (Trachypithecus francoisi).[2]
Other species in this genus include Trichuris cynocephalus, Trichuris discolor, Trichuris laevitestis, Trichuris pardinasi, Trichuris navonae, Trichuris ovis, Trichuris rhinopithecus, Trichuris thrichomysi, and Trichuris travassosi.
Trichurias is a soil-transmitted helminthiasis and belongs to the group of neglected tropical diseases, affecting about 604 million people globally.[3]
Researchers are currently facing difficulties completely differentiating the numerous species under the genus Trichuris. When different whipworm species were discovered, the main factor used to differentiate species was the length of the spicule sheath. However, many species were eventually discovered to have similar spicule sheath lengths.[4] Therefore, researchers began to compare other morphologies, such as the structure or orientation surrounding female sex organs of species suspected to be similar, but different.[5] Relatively recently, studies have been conducted to differentiate similar Trichuris species based on mitochondrial DNA differences, a much more accurate method of distinction.[6] However, currently a paucity of research devoted to encoding the DNA of each and every species exists. As a result, Trichuris species distinction is still largely based on morphological differences.