Microsporidium buyukmichii Canning and Lom, 1986
ETYMOLOGY:Microsporidium representing undefined genera and buyukmichii for the first author of the original description).
Buyukmihci et al. (1977) described an infection of the cornea of the eye of a cat due to a microsporidium that they identified as Encephalitozoon. It has since been decided that this parasite is not the same species as Encephalitozoon cuniculi based on the number of coils of the tube within the spore as discerned from their published photograph. This parasite has been assigned the name Microsporidium buyukmichii. In the cat, the right central cornea developed numerous opacities arranged in a stellate pattern. A superfi cial keratectomy was performed. Histopathology and electron microscopy of the specimen revealed microsporidian organisms measuring 1.5 to 4.0 m with 15 to 16 coils of the polar tube. A year after the procedure the cat was known to be in good health without a recurrence of the eye lesion. The typical host of this species and how this cat became infected are not known.
REFERENCES:
Buyumihci N, RW Bellhorn, J Hunziker, J Clinton. 1977. Encephalitozoon (Nosema) infection of the cornea in a cat. Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association 171:355-357.