Cyclospora cayetanensis

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: João André Alves Silva, M.D. [2]

Overview

Cyclospora cayetanensis is a protozoan that causes disease in humans, and perhaps other primates. It is sometimes referred to as the “yuppie disease” due to outbreaks in the United States from fecally-contaminated imported raspberries and was virtually unknown before about 1990, but has been on the rise since. The health risk associated with the disease is usually confined to adult foreigners visiting endemic regions and acquiring the infection: this is why C. cayetanensis has been labeled as causing “traveler’s diarrhea.” Given the recent rise of this protozoan menace, it is important to be able to characterize, recognize, and give proper treatment for C. cayetanensis.

This species was placed in the Cyclospora genus because of the spherical shape of its sporocysts. The species name refers to the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru, where early epidemiological and taxonomic work was done.[3]

Taxonomy

Eukaryota; Alveolata; Apicomplexa; Conoidasida; Coccidia; Eucoccidiorida; Eimeriorina; Eimeriidae; Cyclospora

Biology

Cyclospora cayetanensis is apicomplexan, cyst-forming coccidian protozoan, of the family of Eimeriidae, that causes a self-limiting diarrhea. Morphologically C. cayetanensis has spherical oocysts that are between 7.5 and 10 micrometers in diameter that also have a 50 nanometer thick bilayered wall with an outer threadlike coat that has been called a wrinkle by some researchers.

Natural Reservoir

The only hosts C. cayentanensis uses are humans.

References

• Ak, Mucide, Berrin Karaayak, Turan Kaya, Meral Turk, and Metin Turker. "Cyclosporiasis associated with diarrhoea in an immunocompetent patient in Turkey." Journal of Medical Microbiology 53 (2004): 255-251.
• Belosevic, Miodrag, Yoshinobu Ishibashi, Masato Kawabata, Kenji Kimura, Shiba-Kumar Rai, Kaoru Takemasa, and Shoji Uga. "Comparison of three microscopic techniques for diagnosis of Cyclospora cayetanensis". FEMS Microbiology Letters 238 (2004): 263-266.
• Gajadhar, Alvin A. and Mansfield, Linda S.; "Cyclospora cayetanensis, a food- and waterborne coccidian parasite." Veterinary Parasitology 126 (2004): 73-90.
• Sohn, Woon-Mok and Jae-Ran Yu. "A case of human cyclosporiasis causing traveler's diarrhea after visiting Indonesia." Journal of Korean Medical Science 18 (2003): 738-741.