E.Cuniculi

E.Cuniculi

Encephalitozoon cuniculi, E. cuniculi or EC is a pathogen that is spread in urine and affects primarily the nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and kidneys.

A eukaryote, unicellular, spore-forming, obligate intracellular microorganism of the phylum Microsporidia, with domestic rabbits as its main host. Encephalitozoonosis in rabbits can manifest itself in different ways depending on the immunity of the host, with immunocompetent individuals having a mild or subclinical form of the disease, while immunocompromised patients show severe clinical signs with possible fatality [12]. The disease can be acute or chronic, the latter case being clinically harder to observe. The clinical signs shown in E. cuniculi infection in rabbits have a strong connection to the main affected organs: the central nervous system (CNS), the kidneys, and the eyes [13]. Vestibular disease ( head tilt) is the most common manifestation seen in acute cases of encephalitozoonosis in rabbits as a result of CNS lesions [13]. Clinical signs can vary in severity, from torticollis or head tilt, ataxia, nystagmus, hemiparesis or paresis, tremors, and seizures to longitudinal rolling and hindlimb paralysis with urinary incontinence [12,13,14]. Renal insufficiency is the result of a chronic infection; clinical signs include polyuria, polydipsia, pollakisuria, azotemia, weight loss, and cystitis, but these are usually hard to observe [12,14]. Damage to the eye globe ( looks like a cataract) can result from the parasite invading the eye lens, inducing inflammation and the spontaneous rupture of the anterior lens capsule at its thinnest point, which causes a release of lens material into the anterior chamber of the eye globe, leading to phacoclastic uveitis. This kind of lesion is usually unilateral [13]. In addition to uveitis, secondary glaucoma and cataracts can also occur [12]. Taking the variety of clinical signs and their low specificity into account, most authors are of the opinion that ante-mortem diagnosis of the disease remains a real challenge [4]. Pathogens. 2022 Dec; 11(12): 1486. Published online 2022 Dec 7. doi: 10.3390/pathogens11121486 PMCID: PMC9785705 PMID: 36558820 A Review of Encephalitozoon cuniculi in Domestic Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus)—Biology, Clinical Signs, Diagnostic Techniques, Treatment, and Prevention Anca-Alexandra Doboși,1,2 Lucia-Victoria Bel,2 Anamaria Ioana Paștiu,1,* and Dana Liana Pusta1 Valentina Virginia Ebani, Academic Editor https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9785705/

Treatment: Safeguard 2cc per day for 28 days symptoms and damage are not normally reversible so culling symptomatic rabbits is typically best option

more reading :

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10143470/ Pathogens. 2023 Apr; 12(4): 516. Published online 2023 Mar 26. doi: 10.3390/pathogens12040516 PMCID: PMC10143470 PMID: 37111402 Encephalitozoon cuniculi Infection of Domestic Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in Slovenia between 2017 and 2021 Maruša Škrbec, Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Alenka Dovč, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Resources, Writing – review & editing, Nina Mlakar Hrženjak, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing, Brigita Slavec, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Writing – review & editing, Zoran Žlabravec, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing, Nina Kočar, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing, Olga Zorman Rojs, Investigation, Resources, Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition, and Jožko Račnik, Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition* Lawrence S. Young, Academic Editor and Magda Dunowska, Academic Editor

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/encephalitozoon-cuniculi Encephalitozoon Cuniculi In subject area: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Encephalitozoon cuniculi is a member of the microsporidia, a group of obligate parasites that infest many animal hosts, including rabbits and immunocompromised humans.

From: The Evolution of the Genome, 2005