Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 Dec 24;2(1):3.
doi: 10.3390/jof2010003.

Microsporidiosis in Vertebrate Companion Exotic Animals

Claire Vergneau-Grosset  1 , Sylvain Larrat  2
Affiliations
Review

Microsporidiosis in Vertebrate Companion Exotic Animals

Claire Vergneau-Grosset et al. J Fungi (Basel). .

Abstract

Veterinarians caring for companion animals may encounter microsporidia in various host species, and diagnosis and treatment of these fungal organisms can be particularly challenging. Fourteen microsporidial species have been reported to infect humans and some of them are zoonotic; however, to date, direct zoonotic transmission is difficult to document versus transit through the digestive tract. In this context, summarizing information available about microsporidiosis of companion exotic animals is relevant due to the proximity of these animals to their owners. Diagnostic modalities and therapeutic challenges are reviewed by taxa. Further studies are needed to better assess risks associated with animal microsporidia for immunosuppressed owners and to improve detection and treatment of infected companion animals.

Keywords: Encephalitozoon; Pleistophora; albendazole; fenbendazole; microsporidia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sequence of events used for diagnosis of Encephalitozoon cuniculi in an immunocompetent companion rabbits.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Campbell S.E., Williams T.A., Yousuf A., Soanes D.M., Paszkiewicz K.H., Williams B.A. The genome of Spraguea lophii and the basis of host-microsporidian interactions. PLoS Genet. 2013;9 doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003676. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Thomarat F., Vivarès C.P., Gouy M. Phylogenetic analysis of the complete genome sequence of Encephalitozoon cuniculi supports the fungal origin of microsporidia and reveals a high frequency of fast-evolving genes. J. Mol. Evol. 2004;59:780–791. doi: 10.1007/s00239-004-2673-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gill E.E., Fast N.M. Assessing the microsporidia-fungi relationship: Combined phylogenetic analysis of eight genes. Gene. 2006;375:103–109. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2006.02.023. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Heinz E., Williams T.A., Nakjang S., Noël C.J., Swan D.C., Goldberg A.V., Harris S.R., Weinmaier T., Markert S., Becher D., et al. The genome of the obligate intracellular parasite Trachipleistophora hominis: New insights into microsporidian genome dynamics and reductive evolution. PLoS Pathog. 2012;8:e1002979. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1002979. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hibbett D.S., Binder M., Bischoff J.F., Blackwell M., Cannon P.F., Eriksson O.E., Huhndorf S., James T., Kirk P.M., Lucking R., et al. A higher-level phylogenetic classification of the fungi. Mycol. Res. 2007;111:509–547. doi: 10.1016/j.mycres.2007.03.004. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources