Microsporidia are intracellular organisms of increasing importance as opportunistic pathogens in immunocompromised patients. Host cells are infected by the extrusion and injection of polar tubes located within spores. The spore is surrounded by a rigid spore wall which, in addition to providing mechanical resistance, might be involved in host cell recognition and initiation of the infection pro...

Age associated impairment of immune function results in inefficient vaccination, tumor surveillance and increased severity of infections. Several alterations in adaptive immunity have been observed and recent studies report age related declines in innate immune responses to opportunistic pathogens including Encephalitozoon cuniculi. We previously demonstrated that conventional dendritic cells (...

Recent studies suggest the involvement of water in the epidemiology of Cyclospora cayetanensis and some microsporidia. A total of 223 samples from four drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs), seven wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), and six locations of influence (LI) on four river basins from Madrid, Spain, were analyzed from spring 2008 to winter 2009. Microsporidia were detected in 49% of...

in farmed blue foxes (Alipex lagopus). Acta vet. scand. 2002, 43, 211-220. – Infection with the intracellular microsporidium Encephalitozoon cuniculi can cause serious disease, encephalitozoonosis, in the blue fox (Alopex lagopus). The disease diagnosis is based on clinical signs and pathological findings, and detection of E. cuniculi or circulating antibodies directed against the parasite. Ind...

Encephalitozoon cuniculi is an obligate intracellular, spore-forming parasite belonging to the microsporidia that can cause disseminated infection in immunocompromised persons. E. cuniculi spores infect host cells by germination, i.e., by explosively everting the polar filament, through which the spore contents (sporoplasms) are subsequently injected into the cytoplasm. In addition, we observed...

Thoracic fluid (pleural fluid and clotted blood) from 206 foxes were examined for antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii and 220 thoracic fluid samples were tested for Neospora caninum antibodies using indirect immunofluorescent antibody tests (IFAT). A total of 115 (56%) and six (3%) foxes had antibodies to T. gondii and N. caninum, respectively. The brains from 148 foxes were examined for histologic...