I've been emailing back and forth with this person who has been battling Crypto with some of his Leopard Geckos. It turns out we may see a possible cure in the near future: I'm copy/pasting what he wrote to me for you guys. This could prove to be quite exciting if it works. Let me know if you guys have heard anything else about this.
Hi Meghan,
I've got some news re my leos.
Unfortunately the one who was sick first (Techno) died a while after that last email. I was feeding her and she started to twitch, I looked at her belly and it was discolored (it wasnt the day before). I noticed she had a hard time moving and looked to be in pain (twitching, strange lunges etc) so I had to put her down. It was near midnight, so all I could do was put her in the freezer and wait. I know it's not the best way, but my alternatives were worse.
Anyhow, my other leo Echo is sick too. It seems the few days they were together was enough. I was able to get a fresh sample to a lab where they confirmed Cryptosporidium Serpentis. It's been about 1 month now, shes doing well all things considered. I've been feeding her the same way I fed Techno (the one who died) and she sems strong. Her poops are often hard and normal looking but she still has regular diarhea.
I have some good news though - there's a new drug thats just got FDA approval in the US. It's called Alinia by Romark Labs. It's the first ever cure for crypto parvum (human crypto). It's not at all tested in reptiles/c.serpentis, but I've talked to them and their people think it would work. It's not just for symptoms - it kills it. If it works it will save Echo! They can't/won't ship it to canada though, especially not for a gecko since it's not approved in Canada. I've been working with a Vet in the US (only 2hrs away) who will get the medication for me from her pharmacist. We're just waiting for them to get stock (its brand new). They should have it mid-Feb and I think Echo will last that long. The vet wants me to sign a waiver, basically saying that if it kills echo I won't hold her responsible, since this isn't tested etc and is really an experiment on my pet. I have no choice really though, I can take a chance or put her down. So some day soon, I'm off to the US to pick up the new medication.
I suppose thats it for now, I'll let you know how it goes.
Oh - here's a link to some pictures of Techno and Echo.
http://206.186.27.100/gecko
The first bunch of pictures are sad. They're of Techno after she died. The last half are of Echo, healthy.
Thanks
John
The web site is
www.romarklabs.com and here's the email I got from them re Alinia:
Dear Mr. Delisle,
We have not tested nitazoxanide against Cryptosporidium serpentis, but we suspect it may be effective because it is related to other Cryptosporidium species. Unfortunately, our product is not available in the market as of yet. It will be available early to mid February, but I suspect that may be too late for you. I am not aware of any way that we could provide you with the product in the meantime.
We are sorry to hear about your problem and hope that we will be able to help in the future. Thank you for contacting us.
Best regards,
Marc Ayers
Romark Laboratories
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