Diarrhea due to Cryptosporidium infection in artificially reared lambs.

Severe diarrhea which lasted 7 to 12 days occurred in 40 of 48 artificially reared lambs within 5 to 12 days of birth, and 16 of them died. Of 16 diarrheic fecal samples examined, 10 contained Cryptosporidium oocysts and 1 contained rotavirus, but no other known enteropathogen was detected. Upon histological examination, cryptosporidia were found in the ilea of three affected lambs, and in one of them, villous atrophy and fusion, with epithelial cross-bridging between villi, were present in distal small intestine. Diarrhea was induced in two specific pathogen-free lambs by oral inoculation with fecal homogenate containing Cryptosporidium oocysts. Both the small and large intestines became infected with the organism, and associated lesions included stunting, fusion, and deformities of villi in the distal small intestine, with replacement of columnar enterocytes by immature cuboidal cells. Subclinical infections were induced in newborn specific pathogen-free mice and rats. Judged by these data, the lamb-derived Cryptosporidium sp. is similar to those recovered from calves, deer, and humans.