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Cryptosporidium is an enteric parasite of public health significance that causes diarrhoeal illness through faecal oral contamination and via water. Zoonotic transmission is difficult to determine as most species of Cryptosporidium are morphologically identical and can only be differentiated by molecular means. Transmission dynamics of Cryptosporidium in rural populations were investigated through the collection of 196 faecal samples from diarrheic (scouring) calves on 20 farms and 63 faecal samples from humans on 14 of these farms. The overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium in cattle and humans by PCR and sequence analysis of the 18S rRNA was 73.5% (144/196) and 23.8%(15/63) respectively. Three species were identified in cattle; C. parvum, C. bovis and C. ryanae, and from humans, C. parvum and C. bovis. This is only the second report of C. bovis in humans. Subtype analysis at the gp60 locus identified C. parvum subtype IIaA18G3R1 as the most common subtype in calves. Of the seven human C. parvum isolates successfully subtyped, 5 were IIaA18G3R1, one was IIdA18G2 and one isolate had a mix of IIaA18G3R1 and IIdA19G2. These findingssuggest that zoonotic transmission may have occurred but more studies involving extensive sampling of both calves and farm workers are needed for a better understanding of the sources of Cryptosporidium infections in humans from rural areas of Australia.Key Words: Cryptosporidium; calves; outbreak; humans; genotyping; 18S rRNA; gp60; zoonotic transmission. 3 IntroductionCryptosporidium is a protozoan parasite that causes self-limiting diarrhoea in immunocompetent individuals but may be chronic and life-threatening to those that are immunocompromised (Hunter and Nichols, 2002). Humans can acquire Cryptosporidium infections through various transmission routes, such as direct contact with infected persons (person-to-person transmission) or animals (zoonotic transmission) and ingestion of contaminated food (foodborne transmission) and water (waterborne transmission) (Xiao, 2010). The relative importance of the different transmission routes is still unclear as most species of Cryptosporidium are morphologically identical and cannot be differentiated through routine diagnostics in pathology laboratories (which rely on microscopy and rarely perform genotyping). Molecular characterization tools such as PCR and sequence analysis of the 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene and the hypervariable 60-kDa glycoprotein (gp60) gene, are required to identify species and track transmission (Xiao, 2010;Ng et al., 2008;Ng et al., 2010aNg et al., , 2010b.Of the 23 valid species, C. hominis and C. parvum are responsible for the majority of infections in humans (Xiao, 2010;Ng et al., 2010a). Cryptosporidium hominis is predominately found in humans, whereas C. parvum can be zoonotic in origin. Cattle are considered one of the main reservoir hosts for C. parvum. However, studies worldwide suggest that cattle are infected with at least five Cryptosporidium parasites: C. parvum, C. bovis, C. andersoni, C. ryanae...

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Abstract:Hendra virus infection is an emerging infectious disease that is not well understood.

The primary caregivers (mean age = 63 yr.) of 28 terminally ill veterans (mean age = 67 yr.) who were living at home were surveyed for their concrete and psychosocial needs. The caregivers also completed the Beck Depression Inventory, the Life Satisfaction Index, the Provision of Social Relations scale, and the Burden Inventory. The rank order of concrete and psychosocial needs is reported for these caregivers. Increased scores on depression were associated with decreased life satisfaction as was low social support. Not surprisingly, higher numbers of concrete and psychosocial needs were associated with increases in depression.