Abstract
Simple SummaryWe first report the prevalence of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in Holstein Cows and dairy buffalo in Yunnan province of China, with a percentage of positivity of 0.59% (5/841). Two novel zoonotic potential genotypes of E. bieneusi were found. We analyzed the different influencing factors (region, season, variety, breeding mode, gender, age), but the differences were not statistically significant.Enterocytozoon bieneusi is a fungus-like protist parasite that can cause diarrhea and enteric diseases. The infection of E. bieneusi has been reported in many host species, including cattle and humans. However, information on prevalence and genotype distribution of E. bieneusi in dairy cattle in Yunnan province in China is still absent. In this study, 490 Holstein Cows and 351 dairy buffalo fecal samples were collected from three regions in Yunnan province, China. By using nest-PCR that targets the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), we found that the prevalence of E. bieneusi was 0.59% (5/841). DNA sequence analysis showed that five E. bieneusi genotypes were identified in this study, including two novel genotypes, YNDCEB-90 and YNDCEB-174, and three known genotypes (I, J, BEB4). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that two novel genotypes, YNDCEB-90 and YNDCEB-174, were clustered into Group 1, representing the zoonotic potential. The remaining genotypes I, J, and BEB4, which are the most frequent genotypes of E. bieneusi infection in cattle and lead to E. bieneusi infection in humans, belonged to Group 2. Although the lower prevalence of E. bieneusi was detected in dairy cattle in Yunnan province, it indicates that dairy cattle should be considered to be one of the potential hosts for transmitting E. bieneusi to humans. These findings are important for the development of effective prevention strategies for microsporidiosis.
Highlights
The results of this study revealed that the infected animals can be identified as potential sources of E. bieneusi infection between dairy cattle and humans
The global infection rate of E. bieneusi in female cattle was 0.67% (5/751, 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) = 0.08–1.25), while no infection was found in male cattle
E. bieneusi is an important pathogen of neonatal calf diarrhea (NCD) that can cause high morbidity and mortality in dairy cattle [26]
Summary
It is an enteric unicellular microsporidian parasite that can infect invertebrate and vertebrate hosts worldwide [1]. E. bieneusi is the most prevalent pathogen in human beings and various mammals [4,5,6,7], causing symptomatic and asymptomatic intestinal infections through accidental ingestion of food or water that has been contaminated with the viable spores of E. bieneusi. E. bieneusi is deemed as one of the riskiest opportunistic pathogens for patients with HIV/AIDS [8,9,10]. It is difficult to distinguish E. bieneusi from other microsporidia species by conventional staining methods due to the extremely small size of the spore.
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