Abstract
Coronavirus disease-2019 (Covid-19) nonpharmaceutical interventions have proven effective control measures for a range of respiratory illnesses throughout the world. These measures, which include isolation, stringent border controls, physical distancing and improved hygiene also have effects on other human pathogens, including parasitic enteric diseases such as cryptosporidiosis. Cryptosporidium infections in humans are almost entirely caused by two species: C. hominis, which is primarily transmitted from human to human, and Cryptosporidium parvum, which is mainly zoonotic. By monitoring Cryptosporidium species and subtype families in human cases of cryptosporidiosis before and after the introduction of Covid-19 control measures in New Zealand, we found C. hominis was completely absent after the first months of 2020 and has remained so until the beginning of 2021. Nevertheless, C. parvum has followed its typical transmission pattern and continues to be widely reported. We conclude that ~7 weeks of isolation during level 3 and 4 lockdown period interrupted the human to human transmission of C. hominis leaving only the primarily zoonotic transmission pathway used by C. parvum. Secondary anthroponotic transmission of C. parvum remains possible among close contacts of zoonotic cases. Ongoing 14-day quarantine measures for new arrivals to New Zealand have likely suppressed new incursions of C. hominis from overseas. Our findings suggest that C. hominis may be controlled or even eradicated through nonpharmaceutical interventions.
Highlights
Coronavirus disease-2019 (Covid-19) was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020, leading to a variety of responses by different governments around the world
Cryptosporidium hominis was commonly found in the first (Q1) and second quarters (Q2) of the year between January and June while C. parvum was more common in the third (Q3) and fourth quarters (Q4) from July to December
In response to Covid-19, New Zealand underwent a nationwide lockdown beginning in late March 2020, with households spending over 7 weeks at home except for essential personal movements like supermarket and hospital visits
Summary
Coronavirus disease-2019 (Covid-19) was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020, leading to a variety of responses by different governments around the world. The nonpharmaceutical intervention strategy of New Zealand was stringent and effectively eliminated a burgeoning Covid-19 outbreak through a nationwide lockdown, physical distancing, improved hand hygiene and ongoing 14-day quarantine for returning travellers (Robert, 2020; Baker et al, 2020a). The level 4 lockdown remained in place until 27 April, when it was reduced to level 3. The primary intention of these measures in New Zealand was to reduce the transmission of Covid-19, but they brought about a reduction in influenza and other respiratory viral infections in 2020 (Huang et al, 2021). Similar impacts have been observed elsewhere (Fricke et al, 2021; Yang et al, 2021), but little attention to date has been given to parasitic enteric diseases
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