Common name for members of the protozoan phylum Microspora. It includes some 80 genera parasitizing all classes of vertebrates and many invertebrates, especially the insects. Several genera, such as Encephalitozoon, Enterocytozoon, Nosema, Vittaforma, Pleistophora, and Trachipleistophora have been implicated in the infection of immunocompromised humans.
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Mi·cro·spo·rid·ia .mī-krō-spə-'rid-ē-ə n pl an order of spore-forming protozoans (class Microsporea) that are parasites of various invertebrate and vertebrate animals, that typically invade and destroy host cells, and that include some (as of the genera Enterocytozoon and Nosema) that cause infections in immunocompromised humans
mi·cro·spo·rid·i·an -ē-ən adj or n
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Mi·cro·spo·rid·ia (mi″kro-spə-ridґe-ə) Microsporida.Medical dictionary. 2011.