Isolation of Encephalitozoon intestinalis from crows living in urban parks of Tehran, Iran: an investigation with zoonotic aspect

Microsporidia are eukaryotic, intracellular obligate parasites that widely involve many organisms including insects, fish, birds, and mammals. One of the genera of Microsporidia is Encephalitozoon, which contains several opportunistic pathogens. Since Encephalitozoon spp. are zoonotic and opportunistic pathogens, it is important to find their reservoir hosts; hence, the current study aimed at isolating and identifying Encephalitozoon spp. in the crows by the light microscopy observations and molecular methods. For this purpose, 36 samples were collected by the dropping method; however, due to the low volume of samples, the total samples were collected in a sterile stool container and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to detect Encephalitozoon spp. Accordingly, 300-bp bands, specific to Encephalitozoon spp., were observed and by sequencing E. intestinalis was identified. Crows can be considered as the hosts of E. intestinalis.