Shadduck J A, Meccoli R A, Davis R, Font R L
Department of Veterinary Pathology, Texas A & M University, College Station 77843-4461.
J Infect Dis. 1990 Sep;162(3):773-6. doi: 10.1093/infdis/162.3.773.
Several genera of microsporidia have been identified morphologically in human tissue but none has yet been propagated in vitro. These primitive, obligate intracellular parasitic protozoa are poorly understood pathogens of a wide variety of vertebrates and invertebrates. In humans they are especially important as opportunistic pathogens in AIDS patients. A microsporidian was recovered from a human patient and propagated in vitro. The organism has diplokarya, divides by binary fission, and often is found free in the host cell cytoplasm. The name Nosema corneum is suggested.
