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Clinical Microbiology Reviews, July 2005, p. 423-445, Vol. 18, No. 3
0893-8512/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CMR.18.3.423-445.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Zoonotic Potential of the Microsporidia

Alexander Mathis,1* Rainer Weber,2 and Peter Deplazes1

Institute of Parasitology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich ,1 Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland2

Microsporidia are long-known parasitic organisms of almost every animal group, including invertebrates and vertebrates. Microsporidia emerged as important opportunistic pathogens in humans when AIDS became pandemic and, more recently, have also increasingly been detected in otherwise immunocompromised patients, including organ transplant recipients, and in immunocompetent persons with corneal infection or diarrhea. Two species causing rare infections in humans, Encephalitozoon cuniculi and Brachiola vesicularum, had previously been described from animal hosts (vertebrates and insects, respectively). However, several new microsporidial species, including Enterocytozoon bieneusi, the most prevalent human microsporidian causing human immunodeficiency virus-associated diarrhea, have been discovered in humans, raising the question of their natural origin. Vertebrate hosts are now identified for all four major microsporidial species infecting humans (E. bieneusi and the three Encephalitozoon spp.), implying a zoonotic nature of these parasites. Molecular studies have identified phenotypic and/or genetic variability within these species, indicating that they are not uniform, and have allowed the question of their zoonotic potential to be addressed. The focus of this review is the zoonotic potential of the various microsporidia and a brief update on other microsporidia which have no known host or an invertebrate host and which cause rare infections in humans.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of Parasitology, Winterthurerstr 266a, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland. Phone: 41 (0)44 635 85 36. Fax: 41 (0)44 635 89 07. E-mail: alexander.mathis{at}access.unizh.ch.

Clinical Microbiology Reviews, July 2005, p. 423-445, Vol. 18, No. 3
0893-8512/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CMR.18.3.423-445.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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