Occurrence and genetic characteristics of Cryptosporidium spp. and Enterocytozoon bieneusi in pet red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in China

Abstract

Cryptosporidium spp. and Enterocytozoon bieneusi are two well-known protist pathogens which can result in diarrhea in humans and animals. To examine the occurrence and genetic characteristics of Cryptosporidium spp. and E. bieneusi in pet red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris), 314 fecal specimens were collected from red squirrels from four pet shops and owners in Sichuan province, China. Cryptosporidium spp. and E. bieneusi were examined by nested PCR targeting the partial small subunit rRNA (SSU rRNA) gene and the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene respectively. The infection rates were 8.6% (27/314) for Cryptosporidium spp. and 19.4% (61/314) for E. bieneusi. Five Cryptosporidium species/genotypes were identified by DNA sequence analysis: Cryptosporidium rat genotype II (n = 8), Cryptosporidium ferret genotype (n = 8), Cryptosporidium chipmunk genotype III (n = 5), Cryptosporidium rat genotype I (n = 4), and Cryptosporidium parvum (n = 2). Additionally, a total of five E. bieneusi genotypes were revealed, including three known genotypes (D, SCC-2, and SCC-3) and two novel genotypes (RS01 and RS02). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that genotype D fell into group 1, whereas the remaining genotypes clustered into group 10. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report Cryptosporidium spp. and E. bieneusi in pet red squirrels in China. Moreover, C. parvum and genotype D of E. bieneusi, previously identified in humans, were also found in red squirrels, suggesting that red squirrels may give rise to cryptosporidiosis and microsporidiosis in humans through zoonotic transmissions. These results provide preliminary reference data for monitoring Cryptosporidium spp. and E. bieneusi infections in pet red squirrels and humans.Cryptosporidium spp. and Enterocytozoon bieneusi, causative agents of cryptosporidiosis and microsporidiosis, are two important opportunistic intestinal pathogens that can infect vertebrate and invertebrate, posing a significant threat to public health 1 . Humans are infected with these pathogens mainly via the fecal-oral route with anthroponotic and zoonotic transmission or via food-borne and water-borne transmission 2,3 . Clinical manifestations of infection with these pathogens are often inconsistent due to the variabilities in the health condition of infected hosts 4,5 . In healthy individuals, these pathogens usually cause asymptomatic infection or self-limiting diarrhea 6 . However, infection may also result in chronic or life-threatening diarrhea in immunocompromised individuals, such as patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and patients who had undergone organ transplantation 7 . In addition to humans, there are a variety of animals that can act as hosts for these two pathogens, including various mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians and insects 8 . Therefore, Cryptosporidium spp. and

First detection and genotyping of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in pet fancy rats (Rattus norvegicus) and guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) in China

“…For guinea pigs, only one survey conducted in Peru identified genotype peru16 from household guinea pigs (Table 3) [3], and this genotype was not detected in the present study. In this study, genotype D was the most prevalent genotype in pet fancy rats, which is consistent with two previous reports (85.7% and 89.5%) from wild rats [24,34], as well as other rodents such as pet red-bellied tree squirrels (Callosciurus erythraeus) (75.0%), pet red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) (44.3%), and domestic bamboo rats (Rhizomys sinensis) (77.3%) [6,7,26]. Genotype D is considered an important zoonotic genotype worldwide [17].…”

“…This genotype has been found previously in humans in Peru, China and Thailand, non-human primates in Kenya and China, raccoons, voles and cottontails in the United States, chickens in Brazil, cats in Spain, and minks and water in China [4,5,17,33]. Genotype SCC-2 was reported previously in pet chipmunks and squirrels in China [6,8], and was found in pet fancy rats for the first time. Genotype S7 (synonyms: CHY1) was originally reported in a patient in the Netherlands [25], and recently identified in a yak and pet chipmunks in China [8,16].…”

“…In China, genotype D has been identified in immunocompromized patients and in children with diarrhea [18,[27][28][29]32]. Genotype D has also been identified in a wide range of animal hosts in China, including non-human primates, rodents (mice, rats, squirrels, chipmunks, chinchillas, and bamboo rats), other mammals (pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, alpacas, horses, donkeys, rabbits, dogs, cats, foxes, deer, takins, minks, raccoon dogs, raccoons, lions, and hippos), and birds, as well as in water samples [6,8,9,11,17,24,26,30,31,33,34].…”

“…Genotyping based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rRNA gene has identified 11 major phylogenetic groups and more than 470 genotypes of E. bieneusi from various hosts [17]. To date, more than 60 E. bieneusi genotypes have been identified in rodents worldwide [6,8,12,17,24,26,30,34]. For rats (Rattus spp.…”

Host-adaptation of Rare Enterocytozoon bieneusi genotype CHN4 in Coypus (Myocastor coypus) in China

“…To the best of our knowledge, this is the rst report of E. bieneusi infections in coypus in China. In the present study, the infection rate of E. bieneusi was 41.2% in coypus, which is higher than the infection rate of E. bieneusi reported in brown rats (7.9%) [8], bamboo rats (5.1%) [15], experimental brown rats (4.8%) [16], commensal rodents (mouse and brown rat) (4.0%) [14], pet chinchillas (3.6%) [17] and red squirrels (19.4%) [18] in China. In addition, lower infection rates were also reported in wild house mice (10.7%) from a hybrid zone across the Czech Republic-Germany border [19], and beavers (15.3%) and muskrats (8.4%) from USA [20].…”