Natural infection of Cryptosporidium muris (Apicomplexa: Cryptosporiidae) in Siberian chipmunks.
Coprologic examination of nine Siberian chipmunks (Eutamias sibiricus) imported from Southeast Asia revealed infection with Cryptosporidium sp. Experimental inoculation of BALB/c mice proved their susceptibility to the infection. Infected mice shed oocysts 14-35 days postinfection. Oocyst morphology was similar to that reported for C. muris in previous studies, oocysts were 8.1 (7.0-9.0) x 5.9 (5.0-6.5) microns. Clinical signs were absent in naturally infected chipmunks and experimental mice. Histologic examinations of mice revealed numerous developmental stages of C. muris in the glandular stomach. Analysis of partial small subunit rRNA gene sequences confirmed identity of these isolates as C. muris. Our results represent the first report of C. muris in members of the family Sciuridae.
Hůrková
Lada
L
Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Palackého 1-3, 612 42 Brno, Czech Republic. lhurkova@vfu.cz
Hajdusek
Ondrej
O
Modrý
David
D
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003457:Cryptosporidiosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D003458:Cryptosporidium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018153:Czech Republic; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D033661:Oocysts / Q000235:genetics / Q000648:ultrastructure; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D016053:RNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D012589:Sciuridae / Q000469:parasitology*; D016415:Sequence Alignment / Q000662:veterinary
D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D016053:RNA, Protozoan; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal