Demonstration of Cryptosporidia in the small intestine of a calf by light, transmission electron and scanning electron microscopy
Pearson, G.R.; Logan, E.F.
Veterinary Record 103(10): 212-213
1978
ISSN/ISBN: 0042-4900 PMID: 706123 Document Number: 127889
Trophozoites and schizonts of cryptosporidia were seen in sections of small intestine from a 7-day-old unsuckled bull calf which had been kept in isolation from birth and infected by mouth at 18 hours with an enteropathogenic strain of E. coli. They were present within the apical cytoplasm of the villous epithelial cells. Schizonts were found free in the intestinal lumen. The association of the organism with the microvillous brush border was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. The microvilli were more prominent than in the normal calf. The parasites were only seen in the villi and not in the crypts of Lieberkuhn. This is the first case of cryptosporidiosis in calves reported in Great Britain [3 photomicrographs].