Occurrence and genotyping of Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium in pre-weaned dairy calves in central Sichuan province, China

Abstract

Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp. are common human and animal pathogens. They have increasingly been reported in dairy calves in recent years; however, multilocus genotyping information for G. duodenalis and Cryptosporidium infecting pre-weaned dairy calves in southwestern China is limited. In the present study, the prevalence of G. duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp. in pre-weaned dairy calves in central Sichuan province was determined and the pathogens were analyzed molecularly. Of 278 fecal samples from pre-weaned dairy calves, 26 (9.4%) were positive for G. duodenalis and 40 (14.4%) were positive for Cryptosporidium spp. Cryptosporidium bovis (n = 28), Cryptosporidium ryanae (n = 5) and Cryptosporidium parvum (n = 7) were detected. All seven C. parvum isolates were successfully subtyped based on the gp60 gene sequence, and only IIdA15G1 was detected. Multilocus sequence typing of G. duodenalis based on beta-giardin (bg), triose phosphate isomerase (tpi) and glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh) genes revealed 19 different assemblage E multilocus genotypes (two known and 17 unpublished genotypes). Based on eBURST analysis, a high degree of genetic diversity within assemblage E was observed in pre-weaned dairy calves in Sichuan province. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study using multilocus sequence typing and eBURST analysis to characterize G. duodenalis in pre-weaned dairy calves in southwestern China.

Genetic Diversity of Cryptosporidium parvum in Neonatal Dairy Calves in Xinjiang, China

“…Compared with previous studies conducted in preweaned dairy calves aged < 2 months in China, the Cryptosporidium prevalence was similar to that in several reports from Shanghai Municipality (37.0%, 303/818) [ 12 ], Heilongjiang Province (33.2%, 86/259) [ 13 ], and Ningxia (31.0%, 49/158) [ 7 ]. The prevalence was higher than that reported for Shaanxi Province (24.7%, 46/186) [ 14 ], Guangdong Province (24.0%, 93/388) [ 15 ], Henan Province (21.5%, 172/801) [ 16 ], Hubei Province (15.8%, 42/265) [ 17 ], Xinjiang (15.6%, 37/237) [ 11 ], Sichuan Province (14.4%, 40/278) [ 18 ], Ningxia (14.0%, 122/871 and 10.2%, 19/186) [ 19 , 20 ], Guangdong Province (6.4%, 19/297) [ 21 ], Hebei Province, and Tianjin Municipality (2.6%, 9/351) [ 22 ]. Finally, the prevalence was lower than that in one case from Heilongjiang Province (47.7%, 72/151) [ 23 ].…”

Seasonal monitoring of Cryptosporidium species and genetic diversity in neonatal dairy calves on two large-scale farms in Xinjiang, China

“…The overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium in neonatal dairy calves on the two farms was 48.7% (185/380), which was similar to that in a report from Heilongjiang in northeastern China (47.7%, 72/151) [19], and higher than those in Hebei and Tianjin (2.6%, 9/351) [20] in northern China; Ningxia (10.2%,19/186 to 31.0%, 49/158) in three cases) [10,21,22 ], Shaanxi (24.7%, 46/186) [23], and Xinjiang (15.6%, 37/237) [24] in northwestern China; Henan (21.5%, 172/801) [14] and Hubei (15.8%, 42/265) [25] in central China; Sichuan (14.4%, 40/278) in southwestern China [26]; Shanghai (37.0%, 303/818) [27] and Jiangsu (22.7%, 139/612) [11] in eastern China; and Guangdong (24.0%, 93/388 and 6.4%, 19/297) in southern China [15,28].…”

“…Whether C. parvum or C. bovis is the dominant Cryptosporidium species in pre-weaned dairy calves is controversial among publications that document Cryptosporidium prevalence among cattle in China. Cryptosporidium bovis was more common in central China (Henan and Hubei) [14,25], eastern China (Shanghai) [27], southwestern China (Sichuan) [26], and southern China (Guangdong) [15,28], whereas C. parvum is more common in northeastern China (Heilongjiang) [32], northern China (Beijing, Hebei, and Tianjin) [20,33], and most of northwestern China (Ningxia and Xinjiang) [10,22,24]. Dairy calves are most commonly infected with C. parvum within 1 month of birth, whereas C. bovis is mainly associated with dairy calves aged 2-3 months [6].…”

“…Among the six IId family subtypes detected in dairy cattle in China (IIdA14G1, IIdA15G1, IIdA17G1, IIdA20G1, and IIdA21G1), IIdA14G1 has only been seen in Xinjiang [24]. IIdA15G1 was rst detected in Ningxia and then in Xinjiang [24], Heilongjiang [32], Sichuan [26], and Beijing [33]. There have been several reports of human infections with IIdA14G1 and IIdA15G1 [35,36].…”

Genetic diversity of Cryptosporidium parvum in neonatal calves in Xinjiang, China

“…Gansu Provinces [9,11,12,[17][18][19]23]. Subtype IIdA19G1 was mostly found in Jiangsu, Henan, Shanghai, Xinjiang, Guangdong, Hebei, Tianjin, Beijing, and Heilongjiang Provinces [10,14,15,[21][22][23]25].…”