Cyclospora species

Cyclospora species
Modified Kinyoun Stain x 1000

This organism was previously called CLB (cyanobacterium-like body) or coccidian like body.

It has been recently identified as a new coccidian pathogen.

On modified acid-fast smears, the oocyst will stain from a light pink to a deep red (shown right).

Some will contain granules as pictured above or have a bubbly appearance like the one pictured left.

Many are unstained and appear as glassy wrinkled sphere referred to as ghosts (see right).

There are two oocyst of Cyclospora in this field, one shows the typical acid fast reaction and the other is a ghost (not demonstrating acid-fastness).

It is very important to measure the oocysts of Cyclospora (8-10 mm) because they can be easily confused with Cryptosporidium oocysts which measure 4-6 mm.