Abstract
A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence and risk factors of Cryptosporidium infection and identify species of the parasite in cattle in central Ethiopia. Faecal samples, collected from 392 dairy cattle managed under intensive and extensive production system, were analyzed by the Modified Ziehl-Neelsen (MZN) microscopy, Nested PCR, PCR-RFLP and sequence analyses of the SSU rRNA gene of Cryptosporidium. The overall prevalence, the prevalence in the extensive and intensive farms was 18.6%, 11% and 21%, respectively. The infection was detected in 37.7% of the investigated farms with prevalence range of 7.4% -100%, and all of the six surveyed districts with significant (P = 0.000) prevalence difference. Restriction digestion and sequence analysis showed Cryptosporidium parvum and C. andersoni in 27% and 73% of the infections, respectively, showing an age related distribution pattern, C. parvum exclusively occurring in calves <2 months old and C. andersoni only in heifers and adult cattle. The infection was significantly associated with management system, farm location, herd size, source of drinking water, weaning age, presence of bedding, pen cleanness and cleanness of hindquarter. In conclusion, Cryptosporidium infection due to C. parvum and C. andersoni was prevalent in cattle in the study area. Cryptosporidium parvum has the concern of public health importance, especially to farm workers and people in close contact with cattle. Instigation of imperative control measure is suggested to lessen the risk of human infection and loss of production in dairy farms.
Highlights
Cryptosporidium infection in livestock may cause important economic impact to farmers due to its high morbidity and sometimes, high mortality rates among farm animals (Casemore et al, 1997)
The overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection in cattle obtained in this study, 18.6%, was comparable to the prevalence of 17.6% reported in central Ethiopia (Abebe et al, 2008), lower than the prevalence report of 27.8% by Alemayehu et al (2013) and higher than the 7.8%, 13.6% and 15.8% prevalence reports by Wegayehu et al (2013), Dinka and Berhanu (2015) and Wegayehu et al (2016), respectively
Cryptosporidium parvum is considered a cause of diarrhoea in neonates and many previous studies reported significant association between diarrhoea and shedding (Geurden et al, 2006; Karanis et al, 2010), no association was detected in this study which might be due to differences in pathogenicity of the strains or co-infections by other diarrhoea causing enteropathogens that could mask the effect of Cryptosporidium
Summary
Cryptosporidium infection in livestock may cause important economic impact to farmers due to its high morbidity and sometimes, high mortality rates among farm animals (Casemore et al, 1997). Cattle, are considered to be sources of human infection. This concern has put pressure on researchers and farmers to identify and manage the risks associated with spread of the zoonotic infection. Epidemiologic studies that consider the multi-factorial nature of diseases will provide valuable information to prevent the occurrence and spread of infection in animals and reduce public health concern (Mohammed et al, 1999)
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