Investigation on the prevalence of Cryptosporidium in reptiles and amphibians in Shanghai

In order to investigate the prevalence of cryptosporidium infections in reptiles and am-phibians of the area,a survey was performed on snakes,lizards,tortoises and toads in Shanghai Zoo and the wild animal rescue center of Shanghai,in which 31 specimens of gastric contents from wild snakes were examined by modified acid-fast staining,and the infection rate of cryptosporidium was found to be 45.2%(14/31).The 44 fecal specimens were performed both with modified acidfast staining and Sheater s sugar flotation technique.As demonstrated by the modified acid fast staining,the overalll infection rate of the 44 fecal specimens was 13.6%(6/44),in which those of lizard,tortoise,huge tortoise,python were 30%(3/9),100%(1/1),100%(1/1)and 25%(1/4)respectively.The positive rate demonstrated by Sheater s sugar flotation technique was only 4.5%,in which 2 lizardswere infected by Cryptosporidium with a infection rate of 22.2%(2/9).It is evident that the infection rate of Cryptosporidium in free-ranging snakes is higher than that of captive snakes.