Abstract
BackgroundLittle is known on the occurrence and identity of Cryptosporidium species in sheep and goats in Algeria. This study aimed at investigating the occurrence of Cryptosporidium species in lambs and goat kids younger than 4 weeks.MethodsA total of 154 fecal samples (62 from lambs and 92 from kid goats) were collected from 13 sheep flocks in Médea, Algeria and 18 goat flocks across Algiers and Boumerdes. They were screened for Cryptosporidium spp. by nested-PCR analysis of a fragment of the small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene, followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism and sequence analyses to determine the Cryptosporidium species present. Cryptosporidium parvum and C. ubiquitum were further subtyped by sequence analysis of the 60 kDa glycoprotein gene.ResultsCryptosporidium spp. were detected in 17 fecal samples (11.0%): 9 from lambs (14.5%) and 8 from goat kids (8.7%). The species identified included C. parvum in 3 lambs, C. xiaoi in 6 lambs and 6 goat kids, and C. ubiquitum in 2 goat kids. Cryptosporidium infections were detected mostly in animals during the first two weeks of life (7/8 for goat kids and 7/9 for lambs) and in association with diarrhea occurrence (7/17 or 41.2% goat kids and 7/10 or 70.0% lambs with diarrhea were positive for Cryptosporidium spp.). Subtyping of C. parvum and C. ubiquitum isolates identified the zoonotic IIaA13G2R1 and XIIa subtype families, respectively. Minor differences in the SSU rRNA gene sequences were observed between C. xiaoi from sheep and goats.ConclusionsResults of this study indicate that three Cryptosporidium species occur in lambs and goat kids in Algeria, including zoonotic C. parvum and C. ubiquitum. They are associated with the occurrence of neonatal diarrhea.
Highlights
Little is known on the occurrence and identity of Cryptosporidium species in sheep and goats in Algeria
C. parvum, C. ubiquitum and C. xiaoi are common species in small ruminants, a small number of animals were reportedly infected with other Cryptosporidium species such as C. andersoni and C. hominis [4, 5, 14,15,16,17,18]
Most Cryptosporidium-positive samples were from animals up to 3 weeks of age with diarrhea for both goats and sheep (Table 2)
Summary
This study aimed at investigating the occurrence of Cryptosporidium species in lambs and goat kids younger than 4 weeks. Cryptosporidium spp. are common enteric protozoa of humans and a wide range of animals [1]. They are involved in numerous outbreaks of diarrheal illness in humans and pre-weaned calves [2, 3]. C. parvum, C. ubiquitum and C. xiaoi are common species in small ruminants, a small number of animals were reportedly infected with other Cryptosporidium species such as C. andersoni and C. hominis [4, 5, 14,15,16,17,18].
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