Epidemiological Studies on Intestinal Protozoa in Pigs in Saitama, Japan

Abstract

studies on the induction of diarrhea by protozoa 13,26 . In this study, we investigated swine parasitism by Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Balantidium, and coccidium by calculating the number of oocysts and cysts per gram of stools in 334 pigs and analyzing the relationships between the detection rate and age group. The stool condition score was also analyzed to investigate the relationship between infection and diarrhea. Using the results of this, the first systematically classified study of swine protozoan infection, we clarified the status of Cryptosporidium and other protozoan infections and investigated their relationships with diseases. IntroductionParasitic protozoa that inhabit the gastrointestinal tracts of pigs include Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Balantidium, coccidium, Chilomastix, Entamoeba, Iodamoeba, and Tritrichomonas 16 . Of coccidium species, Eimeria scabra 6 , Isospora suis 23, and Balantidium coli 25 are known to cause diarrhea in pigs. Cryptosporidium species (C. suis, C. pig genotype II) has been reported as having weakly pathogenic results in pigs 4,20,21,27 . However, the pathogenicity of Cryptosporidium species remains unclear, and there have been only a few pathological AbstractWe surveyed the rates of internal infection of swine with gastrointestinal tract protozoa by checking the stools of 334 pigs (suckling pigs, growing pigs aged 1 to 6 months and sows or sow candidates) on 8 hog farms in Saitama, Japan from September to November 2009. Oocysts and cysts per gram of stools in all pigs were calculated. Parasite detection rates were statistically analyzed for each of the farms, age groups, and stool condition scores, and the relationship between parasitic infection and diarrhea was investigated. Cryptosporidium was detected in 79 pigs (23.7%) of all pigs checked, Giardia was found in 53 (15.9%), Balantidium in 155 (46.4%), and coccidium in 20 (6.0%). The rate of Cryptosporidium infection was higher in the 2-and 3-month-old groups (55.6 to 60.0%) than in the others (2.5 to 27.6%) (P < 0.05): oocysts per gram of stools of 10 4 to 10 5 were detected in a total of 33 suckling pigs and 2-and 3-month-old pigs, including 10 of an outdoor farm. There was a correlation between the infection rate and diarrhea in five piglets aged 1 month or younger. In addition, the number of 6-month-old pigs infected with Giardia was 40.0%, as opposed to just 5.1% (P < 0.05) of suckling pigs. Detection rates differed among farms. The Balantidium infection rate was high in pigs older than 4 months (45.0 to 78.9%), as opposed to 15.4 to 17.2% (P < 0.05) in pigs younger than 1 month.

Identification of Zoonotic Balantioides coli in Pigs by Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and Its Distribution in Korea

“…B. coli is distributed worldwide, and its main host is pigs [ 7 ]. Previous studies have reported the prevalence of B. coli in domestic pigs in different countries including 46.4% and 84.1% in Japan (155/334 and 212/252, respectively), 93.0% in India (93/100), 16.8% in China (94/560), 40.0% in Bangladesh (44/110), 1.6%, in Turkey (4/238), 51.5% in Nigeria (207/402), 64.1% in Kenya (196/306), 0.7% in Germany (2/287), 61.6% in Italy (149/242), and 60.9% in Brazil (236/387) [ 8 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. The prevalence in domestic pigs is highly variable, ranging from 0.7% to 93.0%, and might be affected by the breeding system, hygiene conditions, season, diagnostic method, and climate.…”

Copro-prevalence and risk factor assessment of gastrointestinal parasitism in Indian domestic pigs

“…Moreover, the close association between pigs and humans enables cross-infection with a range of zoonotic parasites like Tae nia solium, Trichinella spiralis and Toxoplasma gondii, all of which contribute deleteriously to human health. Pigs are infected with wide range of gastrointestinal (GI) parasites with reports from all corners of the world (Permin et al, 1999;Tamboura et al2006;Lai et al, 2011;Navarro-Gonzalez et al, 2013;Yui et al, 2014;Alynne et al, 2015;Junhui et al, 2015;Kabululu et al, 2015;) including India (Laha et al, 2014;Dadas et al, 2016;Joute et al, 2016;Krishna Murthy et al, 2016;Singh et al, 2017;Patra et al, 2019). Age, sex of animal, management practices and geographical location are the major risk factors associated with GI parasites in pigs (Permin et al, 1999;Geresu et al, 2015;Roesel et al, 2017).…”

<i>Cryptosporidium</i> species and cryptosporidiosis in Japan: a literature review and insights into the role played by animals in its transmission

“… Yui et al . 2014 [ 183 ] 1– <2 mo 29 Weaned 8 (27.6) 2–6 mo 190 finished 62 (32.6) Sows, Sow candidates 76 2 (2.6) <1 mo 55 Pre-weaned 15 (27.3) 2 C. suis ; C. scrofarum Totally; out of 344 examined pigs, 112 were infected (32.6%). Yui et al .…”