Verts Animal Hospital, 1F Kyuso Bldg 2-21-5, Naka, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka 812-0893, Japan.
Department of Infectious Diseases, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho Kawaramachi-Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku Kyoto 602-8566, Japan.
Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports. 2020 Jul;21:100430. doi: 10.1016/j.vprsr.2020.100430. Epub 2020 Jun 30.
Cryptosporidium is an obligate intracellular parasite which can cause fatal diarrheal disease in exotic animals. Sugar gliders (Petaurus breviceps), hedgehogs (Atelerix albiventris), chinchillas (Chinchilla lanigera), and common leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius) are popular exotic animals commonly sold in pet shops in Japan. We herein investigated the species and subtypes of Cryptosporidium in these animals. Cryptosporidium fayeri was detected in a sugar glider in a Japanese animal hospital. Sequence analyses of the 60-kDa glycoprotein (gp60) gene revealed that C. fayeri belonged to subtype family IVh (IVhA13G2T1), which was proposed to be a new subtype. This is the first study to report C. fayeri infection in a sugar glider. In other animals, the Cryptosporidium horse genotype, C. ubiquitum, and C. varanii were detected in two four-toed hedgehogs (A. albiventris), a chinchilla (C. lanigera), and common leopard gecko (E. macularius), respectively. The gp60 subtypes identified were VIbA13 of the horse genotype and XIId of C. ubiquitum. The present results revealed that potentially zoonotic Cryptosporidium is widespread in exotic animals in Japan.
隐孢子虫是一种专性细胞内寄生虫，可导致外来动物发生致命性腹泻病。蜜袋鼯（Petaurus breviceps）、刺猬（Atelerix albiventris）、龙猫（Chinchilla lanigera）和豹纹守宫（Eublepharis macularius）是在日本宠物店常见的受欢迎的外来动物。本研究调查了这些动物中的隐孢子虫的种类和亚型。在日本动物医院的一只蜜袋鼯中检测到了法耶隐孢子虫（Cryptosporidium fayeri）。60kDa 糖蛋白（gp60）基因的序列分析表明，C. fayeri 属于亚型家族 IVh（IVhA13G2T1），这被提议为一种新亚型。这是首次报道在蜜袋鼯中感染 C. fayeri。在其他动物中，在两只四趾刺猬（A. albiventris）、一只龙猫（C. lanigera）和一只豹纹守宫（E. macularius）中分别检测到了隐孢子虫马基因型、C. ubiquitum 和 C. varanii。鉴定的 gp60 亚型分别为马基因型的 VIbA13 和 C. ubiquitum 的 XIId。本研究结果表明，在日本的外来动物中广泛存在具有潜在人畜共患性的隐孢子虫。
