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Pathogen Page

Cryptosporidium parvum

I. General Information

1. NCBI Taxonomy ID:

2. Disease:

Cryptosporidiosis

3. Introduction

Cryptosporidium parvum is one of several species that cause cryptosporidiosis, a parasitic disease of the mammalian intestinal tract. Primary symptoms of C. parvum infection are acute, watery, and non-bloody diarrhoea. C. parvum infection is of particular concern in immunocompromised patients, where diarrhea can reach 10–15L per day. Other symptoms may include anorexia, nausea/vomiting and abdominal pain.

Infection is caused by ingestion of sporulated oocysts transmitted by the fecal-oral route. In healthy human hosts, the median infective dose is 132 oocysts. The general C. parvum life cycle is shared by other members of the genus. Invasion of the apical tip of ileal enterocytes by sporozoites and merozoites causes pathology seen in the disease. Infection is generally self-limiting in immunocompetent people. In immunocompromised patients, such as those with AIDS or those undergoing immunosuppressive therapy, infection may not be self-limiting, leading to dehydration and, in severe cases, death.

The diagnosis of C. parvum consists of serological tests and microscopic evaluation of oocysts in stools using Kinyoun acid-fast staining. C. parvum is considered to be the most important waterborne pathogen in developed countries. It is resistant to all practical levels of chlorination, surviving for 24hrs at 1000 mg/L free chlorine (Wiki: Cryptosporidium parvum).

4. Microbial Pathogenesis

Invasion of the apical tip of ileal enterocytes by sporozoites and merozoites causes pathology seen in the disease. Infection is generally self-limiting in immunocompetent people. In immunocompromised patients, such as those with AIDS or those undergoing immunosuppressive therapy, infection may not be self-limiting, leading to dehydration and, in severe cases, death (Wiki: Cryptosporidium parvum).

5. Host Ranges and Animal Models

Cryptosporidiosis is an enteric diarrheal disease caused mainly by Cryptosporidium parvum, an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite of the intestinal epithelium that infects a variety of mammalian species, including rodents, livestock, and humans (Ehigiator et al., 2007).

6. Host Protective Immunity

Cryptosporidium sp. infection induces both cellular and humoral immune responses in infected hosts, but protection is mediated primarily through cellular immunity (Ehigiator et al., 2007).

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