Isolation and characterization of an avian isolate of Encephalitozoon hellem

Members of the phylum Microspora are a group of unusual, obligate intracell ular eukaryotic parasites that infect a wide range of hosts. However, there are a limited number of microsporidial infections reported in avian hosts, and no parasite species has been defined as an avian pathogen. A microspor idian organism was recovered from the droppings of a clinically normal peac h-faced lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis) and established in in vitro cultur e. Intermittent parasite spore shedding was documented over a 2-month perio d using calcofluor M2R staining of cloacal swabs. The organism was identifi ed as Encephalitozoon hellem based on protein and antigenic profiles and mo lecular sequencing of the small subunit and internal transcribed spacer reg ions of the ribosomal RNA gene.