Intestinal Cryptosporidiosis of Pigs in Taiwan

Ten pigs with intestinal cryptosporidiosis from 965 necropsy cases were reviewed. Histopathology, transmission electron microscopy (TEA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to identify the protozoan parasite and to confirm the diagnosis. All the pigs were complicated with other diseases prior to death or cull. Six of them had a history of diarrhea. Microscopically, Cryptosporidium sp. organisms were present on the microvilli of villous epithelium and/or within the mucosal crypts throughout the small intestine, particularly prominent in the ileum. Histopathologically, crypt hyperplasia, villous atrophy, villous fusion and epithelial damage with mononuclear cells, eosinophils and a few neutronphils were seen in the lamina propria of the mucosa in some cases. In addition, the organism was observed at different stages through TEM and SEM methods. In Taiwan, cryptosporidiosis has been found in humans, pigs and chickens recently. The literature dealing with cryptosporidiosis in all three species is also discussed in this article.