Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

High Occurrence of Zoonotic Subtypes of Cryptosporidiumparvum in Cypriot Dairy Farms

Hoque, Sumaiya, Mavrides, Daphne E., Pinto, Pedro, Costas, Silvia, Begum, Nisa, Azevedo-Ribeiro, Claudia, Liapi, Maria, Kváč, Martin, Malas, Stavros, Gentekaki, Eleni, and others. (2022) High Occurrence of Zoonotic Subtypes of Cryptosporidiumparvum in Cypriot Dairy Farms. Microorganisms, 10 (3). Article Number 531. ISSN 2076-2607. (doi:10.3390/microorganisms10030531) (KAR id:98172)

Abstract

Cryptosporidium parvum is one of the major causes of neonatal calf diarrhoea resulting in reduced farm productivity and compromised animal welfare worldwide. Livestock act as a major reservoir of this parasite, which can be transmitted to humans directly and/or indirectly, posing a public health risk. Research reports on the prevalence of Cryptosporidium in ruminants from east Mediterranean countries, including Cyprus, are limited. This study is the first to explore the occurrence of Cryptosporidium spp. in cattle up to 24 months old on the island of Cyprus. A total of 242 faecal samples were collected from 10 dairy cattle farms in Cyprus, all of which were screened for Cryptosporidium spp. using nested-PCR amplification targeting the small subunit of the ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) gene. The 60 kDa glycoprotein (gp60) gene was also sequenced for the samples identified as Cryptosporidium parvum-positive to determine the subtypes present. The occurrence of Cryptosporidium was 43.8% (106/242) with at least one positive isolate in each farm sampled. Cryptosporidium bovis, Cryptosporidium ryanae and C. parvum were the only species identified, while the prevalence per farm ranged from 20–64%. Amongst these, the latter was the predominant species, representing 51.8% of all positive samples, followed by C. bovis (21.7%) and C. ryanae (31.1%). Five C. parvum subtypes were identified, four of which are zoonotic—IIaA14G1R1, IIaA15G1R1, IIaA15G2R1 and IIaA18G2R1. IIaA14G1R1 was the most abundant, representing 48.2% of all C. parvum positive samples, and was also the most widespread. This is the first report of zoonotic subtypes of C. parvum circulating in Cyprus. These results highlight the need for further research into the parasite focusing on its diversity, prevalence, host range and transmission dynamics on the island

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.3390/microorganisms10030531
Uncontrolled keywords: Cryptosporidium; Cryptosporidium parvum detection; subtyping; gp60; 18S rRNA; calves; Cyprus; zoonosis
Subjects: Q Science > QR Microbiology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Biosciences
Depositing User: Anastasios Tsaousis
Date Deposited: 20 Nov 2022 20:48 UTC
Last Modified: 21 Nov 2022 17:06 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/98172 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Tsaousis, Anastasios D..

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5424-1905
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.