Animals kept under poor husbandry conditions are at greater risk for clinical cryptosporidiosis. • Cryptosporidial sporozoites are very stable in the environment. • They survive well in bleach and in many other disinfectants. • Fecal-oral transmission is the route of infection. Zoonotic infection with Cryptosporidium of reptiles has not been documented. • Cryptosporidium serpentis has been shown not to infect the only mammal that has been experimentally investigated—the mouse (Mus musculus). • Black rat snakes (Elaphe obsoleta) have been found not to be susceptible to several mammal Cryptosporidium spp., including C. parvum, making carriage of zoonotic species unlikely. Biliary cryptosporidiosis has also been found in snakes with gastric cryptosporidiosis. • Vary according to species of Cryptosporidium and host • Often, no abnormalities are present. • Gastric cryptosporidiosis: poor growth, weight loss, regurgitation, and gastric hypertrophy leading to midbody swelling • Intestinal cryptosporidiosis: poor growth, weight loss, and diarrhea • Aural cryptosporidiosis: aural/pharyngeal polyps, which have been documented only in green iguanas • Cryptosporidian parasites are epicytoplasmic in host cells rather than intracytoplasmic, unlike most other coccidia, with the exception of Acroeimeria spp. All Cryptosporidium spp. have direct life cycles. • Cryptosporidium serpentis: typically associated with gastric cryptosporidiosis in snakes and lizards; this was the first species identified in reptiles • Cryptosporidium saurophilum: typically associated with intestinal cryptosporidiosis in snakes and lizards; it is most commonly reported with clinical disease in leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius). It is sometimes incorrectly called C. saurophilum. • Cryptosporidium ducismarci sp. has been associated with intestinal cryptosporidiosis in tortoises. • An unnamed Cryptosporidium sp. has been associated with gastric cryptosporidiosis in tortoises. • Unnamed Cryptosporidium spp.: A Cryptosporidium species has been associated with aural/pharyngeal polyps in green iguanas (Iguana iguana).
Cryptosporidiosis
Basic Information
Epidemiology
Risk Factors
Contagion and Zoonosis
Clinical Presentation
Disease Forms/Subtypes
Physical Exam Findings
Etiology and Pathophysiology
Many other unnamed Cryptosporidium spp. have been described in the literature in different reptilian species.
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Cryptosporidiosis
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