The aim of this work was to determine ultrastructural changes on the intestinal mucosa and associated lymphoid tissues after an experimental infection with Cryptosporidium sp. Twelve piglets dosed orally with 1×10(6) oocysts were slaughtered on days 3, 6, 9 and 12 after inoculation. The ultrastructural lesions in the intestinal cells were irregular with thickened microvilli, cytoplasmic protrusions and vacuolation, swollen mitochondria, hypertrophic organelles and nuclei. The lymphocytes of the Peyer’s patches occasionally were mitotic with a larger number of lymphoblasts in the inoculated animals.
Pig; cryptosporidiosis; ultrastructure; intestine
