Abstract
A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine prevalence and risk factors of cryptosporidiosis in bovine from two contrasting production system in and around Tanga municipality between May 2003 and January 2004. The study populations comprised 117 calves aged ≤3 months, randomly selected from 44 smallholders dairy and traditional managed herds, respectively. Individual calf and herd-level information was collected using a structured questionnaire and feacal samples were screened for Cryptosporidium spp oocysts using the modified Ziehl-Neelsen method. Overall, 35% of the calves in the study were shedding Cryptosporidium spp oocysts, with at least one positive calf detected in 54.5% of herds. Independent risk factors for cryptosporidiosis were: age ≥1 to ≤2 months and level of cleanness of calf house floor categorized as dirty (P < .05). Similarly an increases risk of Cryptosporidium spp infection was found in calves from smallholder dairy units compared to traditional herds (P < .05). The finding highlights that Cryptosporidium spp is prevalent among calves in the area under study. The high prevalence of cryptosporidiosis detected in this study suggests that it may have a significant impact on livestock industry and that the close interaction between cattle and human may play a role in zoonotic transmission to humans.
Highlights
Cryptosporidiosis is a zoonosis caused by the apicomplexan intracellular, extracytoplasmic coccidian parasite of the genus Cryptosporidium that can infect a wide range of animals, including man [1, 2]
C. parvum causes disease in humans and is, a zoonosis transmitted from cattle to humans but in immunocompromised individuals such as children and patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), the infection fulminates and might be life-threatening [4]
This study investigated the prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. infections amongst bovine calves in two contrasting cattle production systems of Tanga region, Tanzania
Summary
Cryptosporidiosis is a zoonosis caused by the apicomplexan intracellular, extracytoplasmic coccidian parasite of the genus Cryptosporidium that can infect a wide range of animals, including man [1, 2]. Cryptosporidium hominis (formerly C. parvum genotype 1) is human specific and maintained in human-to-human transmission cycles, while C. parvum (formerly C. parvum genotype 2) is maintained by a number of different animal reservoir host species including bovines [3]. In cattle Cryptosporidium infections are transmitted by the faeco-oral route, and the disease is readily transmissible: oocysts persist for long periods in suitable environment [5], and low numbers of oocysts may produce infection in susceptible hosts [6]. Clinical illness and diarrhoea caused by Cryptosporidium spp. have been reported in several species of young animals including bovine calves as young as 4 days [7]. As a result information on disease prevalence, distribution, and impact on these future replacement stocks is inadequate and not precisely known
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