title: Heterosporis anguillarum infection in a garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis).
abstract: A captive garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) showed marked circumferential thickening of the body wall due to a chronic fibrous to necrotizing inflammatory reaction extending from the serosa to the skin. The lesions were associated with the presence of intra- and extracellular microsporidian organisms. With ultrastructural and molecular analyses the microsporidia were identified as Heterosporis anguillarum. This organism causes a morphologically similar disease in the Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica), but this is the first time it has been identified in an infected reptile.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology and Forensic Veterinary Medicine, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: Barbara.Richter@vetmeduni.ac.at.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology and Forensic Veterinary Medicine, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Graner
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Csokai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017812:Colubridae / Q000382:microbiology*; D016881:Microsporidiosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D021864:Pleistophora / Q000302:isolation & purification*
keywords: microsporidium; polymerase chain reaction; reptile; ultrastructure