Editing Cryptosporidium (section)

== General characteristics ==
''Cryptosporidium'' causes [[cryptosporidiosis]], an infection that may present as a [[diarrhea|diarrhoea]]l with or without a persistent cough in immunocompetent hosts.<ref name="Respiratory cryptosporidiosis - fomite transmission" />  Other [[apicomplexan]] pathogens include the [[malaria]] parasite ''[[Plasmodium]]'' and the [[toxoplasmosis]] parasite ''[[Toxoplasma]]''.  Unlike ''Plasmodium'', which transmits via a [[mosquito]] vector, ''Cryptosporidium'' does not use an insect vector, and is capable of completing its lifecycle within a single host, resulting in [[cyst]] stages that are excreted in feces or through inhalation of coughed on [[fomites]] and are capable of transmission to a new host.<ref name="Respiratory cryptosporidiosis - fomite transmission" /><ref name=CDC_Site>{{cite web | title = Parasites - Cryptosporidium (also known as "Crypto") | url = https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/crypto/pathogen.html | publisher = Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | date = February 20, 2015 }}</ref><ref name="WidmerCarmena2020">{{cite journal|last1=Widmer|first1=Giovanni|last2=Carmena|first2=David|last3=Kváč|first3=Martin|last4=Chalmers|first4=Rachel M.|last5=Kissinger|first5=Jessica C.|last6=Xiao|first6=Lihua|last7=Sateriale|first7=Adam|last8=Striepen|first8=Boris|last9=Laurent|first9=Fabrice|last10=Lacroix-Lamandé|first10=Sonia|last11=Gargala|first11=Gilles|last12=Favennec|first12=Loïc|title=Update on ''Cryptosporidium'' spp.: highlights from the Seventh International Giardia and Cryptosporidium Conference|journal=Parasite|volume=27|year=2020|pages=14|issn=1776-1042|doi=10.1051/parasite/2020011|url=https://www.parasite-journal.org/articles/parasite/full_html/2020/01/parasite200029/parasite200029.html|doi-access=free}} {{open access}}</ref>

A number of ''Cryptosporidium'' species infect mammals. In humans, the [[Portal:Main|main]] causes of disease are ''C. parvum'' and ''C. hominis'' (previously ''C. parvum'' genotype 1). ''C. canis'', ''C. felis'', ''C. meleagridis'', and ''C. muris'' can also cause disease in humans.<ref name=CDC_Site/>

Cryptosporidiosis is typically an acute, short-term infection, can be recurrent through reinfection in immunocompetent hosts, and become severe or life-threatening in immunocompromised individuals. In humans, it remains in the lower intestine and may remain for up to five weeks.<ref name=CDC_Site/> The parasite is transmitted by environmentally hardy [[cyst]]s (oocysts) that, once ingested, exist in the [[small intestine]] and result in an infection of intestinal [[Epithelium|epithelial tissue]].<ref name=CDC_Site/> Transmission by ingestion or inhalation of coughed on fomites is a second, less likely route of infection.<ref name="Respiratory cryptosporidiosis - fomite transmission" />

The [[genome]] of ''Cryptosporidium parvum'', sequenced in 2004, was found to be unusual amongst [[eukaryote]]s in that the [[mitochondria]] seem not to [[mitochondrial DNA|contain DNA]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Abrahamsen MS, Templeton TJ, Enomoto S, Abrahante JE, Zhu G, Lancto CA, Deng M, Liu C, Widmer G, Tzipori S, Buck GA, Xu P, Bankier AT, Dear PH, Konfortov BA, Spriggs HF, Iyer L, Anantharaman V, Aravind L, Kapur V | title = Complete genome sequence of the apicomplexan, Cryptosporidium parvum | journal = Science | volume = 304 | issue = 5669 | pages = 441–5 | date = April 2004 | pmid = 15044751 | doi = 10.1126/science.1094786 }}</ref> A closely related species, ''C. hominis'', also has its genome sequence available.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Xu P, Widmer G, Wang Y, Ozaki LS, Alves JM, Serrano MG, Puiu D, Manque P, Akiyoshi D, Mackey AJ, Pearson WR, Dear PH, Bankier AT, Peterson DL, Abrahamsen MS, Kapur V, Tzipori S, Buck GA | title = The genome of Cryptosporidium hominis | journal = Nature | volume = 431 | issue = 7012 | pages = 1107–12 | date = October 2004 | pmid = 15510150 | doi = 10.1038/nature02977 | doi-access = free }}</ref>