Prevalence and molecular characterization of <i>Cryptosporidium</i> spp. and <i>Enterocytozoon bieneusi</i> from large-scale cattle farms in Anhui Province, China

Abstract

To investigate the prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. and Enterocytozoon bieneusi from large-scale cattle farms in Anhui Province, 955 fecal samples were collected from 16 cattle farms from March to October 2018, which included six dairy farms (526), seven yellow cattle farms (323), and three water buffalo farms (106) in different regions of Anhui Province. PCR was conducted on all fecal samples using the 18S ribosomal RNA of Cryptosporidium spp. and internal transcribed spacer gene of E. bieneusi to detect these two pathogens, and the positive samples were sequenced and analyzed. The results showed that 23 (2.4%) and 40 (4.2%) out of the 955 samples were positive for Cryptosporidium spp. and E. bieneusi, respectively. There were 11 (2.1%), 10 (3.1%), and 2 (1.9%) positive samples of Cryptosporidium spp. and 16 (3.0%), 23 (7.1%), and 1 (0.9%) positive samples of E. bieneusi collected from dairy cattle, yellow cattle, and water buffalo, respectively, and no co-infection was identified in this study. All positive samples of Cryptosporidium spp. were C. andersoni with some variations. Ten E. bieneusi genotypes were obtained, including two known genotypes, J and CHN11, and eight new genotypes, named AHDC1 and AHYC1-7. The genotype CHN11 belonged to zoonotic Group 1, and the other nine genotypes belonged to Group 2, which is mainly documented in ruminants. These results indicated that Cryptosporidium spp. and E. bieneusi infections were present in large-scale cattle farms in Anhui Province. Therefore, attention should be paid to the development of containment strategies of these two pathogens in cattle.

Prevalence and Molecular Characterization of Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia duodenalis, and Enterocytozoon bieneusi in Cattle in Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China

“…For dairy cattle, the Cryptosporidium spp. infection rate in the present study was higher than the corresponding rates previously reported for Ningxia Autonomous Region (1.6%, 23/1366) [31], Anhui Province (2.1%, 11/526) [32], Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (4.3%, 60/1391) [33], Shanxi Province (1.0%, 4/394) [7], Guangdong Province (4.4%, 63/1440) [34], and Gansu Province (5.1%, 58/1257) [35] but lower than those reported for Sichuan Province (14.4%, 40/278) [36], Yunnan Province (14.7%, 65/442) [37], Jiangxi Province (26.1%, 43/165) [38], Taiwan Province (26.5%, 60/226) [39], and Inner Mongolia (29.9%, 151/505) [40]. For beef cattle, the Cryptosporidium spp.…”

High genotype diversity and zoonotic potential of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in yaks (Bos grunniens) from Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province

“…Recently, E. bieneusi has been widely reported in bovine animals in China. In the present study, the positive rate of E. bieneusi in yaks was 23.8% (53/223), which was higher than that in yaks in Qinghai (7.0%; 7.2%) [ 26 , 58 ], Gansu (1.13%) [ 29 ], and Tibet (5.0%) [ 51 ], water buffaloes in Jiangxi (5.6%) [ 19 ], Anhui (0.9%) [ 23 ] and Hunan (2.2%) [ 28 ], beef cattle in Jiangxi (3.9%) [ 19 ], Henan (5.4%) [ 28 ] and Shaanxi (19.7%) [ 50 ], and dairy cattle in most reported provinces in China, except for Heilongjiang (30.1%; 29.0%) [ 47 , 63 ] and Jilin (37.6%) [ 60 ]. The disparities in positive rates of E. bieneusi in bovine animals were likely caused by discrepancies in animal species, host immune status, geographic regions, sampling sizes as well as management practices.…”

Molecular Identification and Genotyping of Cryptosporidium spp. and Blastocystis sp. in Cattle in Representative Areas of Shanxi Province, North China

“…and Blastocystis sp. in cattle are closely related to host immune status [ 6 , 28 , 33 , 34 ]. There are also many reports indicating that the sampling seasons [ 13 , 35 , 36 ], number of samples [ 14 ] and detection methods [ 22 ] also affect the results.…”

“…and more than 120 genotypes have been reported worldwide [ 5 ]. A large amount of research has indicated that C. andersoni , C. parvum , C. bovis and C. ryanae are the main causative agents of cryptosporidiosis in cattle [ 5 , 6 ]. In addition, C. andersoni , C. parvum and C. bovis can infect not only cattle but also humans [ 5 ].…”