Abstract
A survey was carried out to determine the prevalence of Encephalitozoon spp. in lagomorphs of Sardinia (Italy) at nine industrial rabbit farms (Oryctogalus cuniculus) and in two breedings of hares (Lepus capensis mediterraneus). A total of 378 slaughtered rabbits (meat rabbits and breeders) and 45 living hares were examined. The survey was carried out including three different approaches: serological, pathological, and biomolecular. Sera obtained after centrifugation were frozen at −18°C until examination by carbon immunoassay (Medicago, Uppsala, Sweden). Six out of the nine rabbit farms were found to be serologically positive for E. cuniculi (66.7%), while the number of seropositive rabbits was 68 of 378 (18.5%). All hare sera tested negative. In all slaughtered rabbits, macroscopic renal lesions, presumably attributable to infection with E. cuniculi, were detected. Gross lesions were found in 62 out of the 378 individuals examined (16.4%). DNA was extracted from 22 samples that were positive for microsporidia and subjected to sequencing and genotyping. All isolates investigated showed 100% homology to E. cuniculi.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Abbreviations
- CIA:
-
Carbon immunoassay test
- PCR:
-
Polymerase chain reaction
- MR:
-
Rabbit meat
- OB:
-
Old breeder
References
De Bosschere H, Wang Z, Orlandi PA (2007) First diagnosis of Encephalitozoon intestinalis and E. hellem in a European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) with kidney lesions. Zoonoses Publ Health 54:131–134
Deplazes P, Mathis A, Baumgartner R, Tanner I, Weber R (1996) Immunologic and molecular characteristics of Encephalitozoon-like microsporidia isolated from humans and rabbits indicate that Encephalitozoon cuniculi is a zoonotic parasite. Clin Infect Dis 22:557–559
Harcourt-Brown F (2004) Encephalitozoon cuniculi infection in rabbits. Semin Avian Exotic Pet Med 13:86–93
Künzel F, Gruber A, Tichy A, Edelhofer R, Nell B, Hassan J, Leschnik M, Thalhammer G, Joachim A (2008) Clinical symptoms and diagnosis of encephalitozoonosis in pet rabbits. Vet Parasitol 151:115–124
Valencakova A, Balent P, Novotny F, Cislakova L (2005) Application of specific primers in the diagnosis of Encephalitozoon spp. Ann Agric Environ Med 12:321–332
Wasson K, Peper RL (2000) Mammalian microsporidiosis. Vet Pathol 37:113–128
Zender HO, Arrigoni E, Eckert J, Kapanci Y (1989) A case of Encephalitozoon cuniculi peritonitis in a patient with AIDS. Am J Clin Pathol 92:352
Acknowledgments
The research was funded with ex 60%/2009 University of Sassari and L.R. 7 “Bando Giovani Ricercatori” by Regione Autonoma della Sardegna, 2007.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Pipia, A.P. et al. (2012). Epidemiological and Biomolecular Updates on Encephalitozoon cuniculi in Lagomorpha of Sardinia (Italy). In: Pugliese, A., Gaiti, A., Boiti, C. (eds) Veterinary Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23271-8_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23271-8_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-23270-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-23271-8
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)