Cryptosporidium, n. Microbiol. and Med.
Brit. /ˌkrɪptəʊspəˈrɪdɪəm/, U.S. /ˌkrɪptəspəˈrɪdiəm/
Plural cryptosporidia Brit. /ˌkrɪptəʊspəˈrɪdɪə/, U.S. /ˌkrɪptəspəˈrɪdiə/
[‹ scientific Latin Cryptosporidium (E. E. Tyzzer 1908, in Proc. Soc. Exper. Biol. & Med. 5 12) > comb. form + -sporidium (in microsporidium n., sarcosporidium n.).]
A genus of protozoans whose members are parasites of various mammals (including humans), birds, and reptiles, and are found chiefly in the intestinal tract, sometimes causing diarrhoeal illness; (also cryptosporidium) a member of this genus.
| 1910E. E. Tyzzer in Jrnl. Med. Res. 10 505 The genus Cryptosporidium may be defined as follows: Sporocyst absent or united with oöcyst so that the entire organism becomes a single spore with four sporozoites. 1925 Protozoology 1 19 An examination of the same material..has led to the discovery of..a Cryptosporidium in the fæces of a rattlesnake. 1953 Amer. Midland Naturalist 49 704 The principal morphological characteristics and results of cross-infection experiments in Cryptosporidium, Eimeria, Isospora and Wenyonella from the avian orders Galliformes, Anseriformes and Charadriiformes are reviewed. 1966 Amer. Jrnl. Vet. Res. 27 408/1 We have observed in the small intestine of the guinea pig a heretofore unreported parasitic infection which..is due to a coccidium of the genus Cryptosporidium. 1987 R. Shilts And Band played On (1988) iv. xii. 127 Simon was infected with Cryptosporidium, a parasite that normally inhabits the bowels of sheep. 1993 New Eng. Jrnl. Med. 328 1308 Complete excystation resulted in the liberation of two sporozoites from the two sporocysts within each oocyst (cryptosporidia have four naked sporozoites within each oocyst). 2001 National Post (Toronto) 4 May a3/3 A person can become infected by drinking contaminated water or eating raw or undercooked food contaminated with cryptosporidium oocysts. |