Epidemiological and Molecular Study of Cryptosporidium in Preweaned Calves in Kuwait

Abstract

Cryptosporidium is a worldwide enteric protozoan parasite that causes gastrointestinal infection in animals, including humans. The most notable species is Cryptosporidium parvum because of its zoonotic importance; it is also the leading cause of cryptosporidiosis in preweaned calves. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection, investigate the potential risk factors, and use molecular diagnosis to identify the predominant Cryptosporidium spp. in preweaned calves in Kuwait. Of 175 preweaned calves, Cryptosporidium antigens were detected in 58 (33.1%) using rapid lateral immunochromatography assay (IC). Calves less than one month of age (OR = 4.32, p = 0.0001) and poor hygiene (OR = 2.85, p = 0.0075) were identified as significant risk factors associated with Cryptosporidium infection. Molecular identification revealed that C. parvum (62.8%) was the dominant species infecting preweaned calves in Kuwait. In contrast, C. bovis and C. andersoni were recorded at 5.7% and 2.9%, respectively. All C. parvum gp60 nucleotide sequences were subtype IIaA15G2R1. Calves could be a source of C. parvum infection due to the similarity of the subtypes recorded previously in Kuwaiti children and preweaned calves in this study. Therefore, more research is needed to understand the Cryptosporidium transmission cycle in Kuwait.

Occurrence and molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis in Lambs and Calves in Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey

“…This finding is consistent with previous studies which reported prevalence rates of 22.5% in Poland [33] and 27.4% in Türkiye [30] for Cryptosporidium infection in calves. However, the infection rate assigned in this study is higher than investigations reported prevalence rates of 18.7% in Jordan [34], 14.7% in Iran [35], 9.7% in Egypt [36], but lower than the reported prevalence rate of 47.9% in Iraq [37], 58.3% in Sudan [38], 84% in Algeria [39], 36.7% in Sweden [40], 33.1% in Kuwait [41], 38.8% in Italy [42], and 53.6% in Türkiye [43]. These variations in the Cryptosporidium infection rates in lambs and calves could be due to geographical differences, farm management, hygiene, agroecological differences, sample size, health situation and diagnostic methods.…”

“…Similarly, several recent studies in China, India, Malaysia, Australia, Sweden, and Canada, however, have demonstrated the common occurrence of C. bovis and C. ryanae in calves in the absence or low occurrence of C. parvum [54][55][56][57][58]. In contrast, previous studies reported the predominance of C. parvum in calves globally [41,43,59]. This difference in the distribution of Cryptosporidium species in lambs and calves might have resulted from various environmental, host, and management factors.…”

Molecular prevalence and associated risk factors of Cryptosporidium spp. infection in dairy cattle in Khon Kaen, Thailand

“…For example, Cryptosporidium spp. were found in 46.8% in Ningxia, China [ 5 ], 16.20% in India [ 11 ], 35.70% in Vietnam [ 17 ], 33.1% in Kuwait [ 18 ], 24.4% in Taiwan [ 19 ], 5% in Iran [ 20 ], and 4.38% in Guangdong, China [ 21 ]. These data indicate the prevalence of Cryptosporidium in different geographical zones.…”

Detection of Cryptosporidium parvum in calf feces using microscopical, serological, and molecular methods

“…So, the calves its age less than six weeks during pre-weaning the C. parvum is the key enteropathogens of neonatal calf led to diarrhea (40). In Kuwait the molecular identification of C. parvum is 62.8% in pre-weaned calves (41).…”