Identification of a novel and zoonotic GP60 subtypes of Cryptosporidium parvum from calves in dairy areas of Argentina

M.L. TOMAZIC; MAIDANA JIMENA; MARIANA DOMINGUEZ; ENRIQUE LOUGE URIARTE; ROXANA GALARZA; MÓNICA FLORIN-CHRISTENSEN; LEONHARD SCHNITTGER

Kusadasi

Congreso; 2nd International Meeting on Apicomplexan Parasites in Farm Animals; 2013

Cryptosporidium spp. infections are an important cause of gastrointestinal disease worldwide in a variety of hosts, including humans and cattle. In Argentina and many other countries cryptosporidiosis is responsible for significant fatalities of neonatal calves, resulting in substantial economic loss in dairy farming. C. parvum represents the main zoonotic species and calves are considered a major host reservoir. Molecular epidemiological tools have allowed much progress in the understanding of transmission routes. However, current reports are considerably biased towards relatively few industrialized countries and knowledge on the circulating species and subtypes involved in bovine cryptosporidiosis in Argentina are still lacking. In order to achieve a better understanding of the molecular epidemiology of Cryptosporium spp. in calves species identification based on the small-subunit rRNA and subtyping using the GP60 gene were carried out. Fecal samples were collected from calves aged less than two months old located in the main productive dairy region of Argentina, Cryptosporidium sp. oocysts were microscopically detected in stained smears, and positive samples were further analyzed. Exclusively, the C. parvum species was identified in the study group. Subtyping and phylogenetic analysis of the C. parvum GP60 gen revealed the presence of altogether 6 alleles, all belonging to the IIa family. Among them, one (IIaA23G1R1) represents a novel subtype and four (IIa18G1R1, IIaA20G1R1, IIaA21G1R1, and IIaA22G1R1) have been recognized in relatively few studies and/or with low frequencies worldwide. Importantly, subtype IIaA17G1R1, which is strongly implicated in zoonotic transmission, was also identified in this study, suggesting that calves may represent a potential source for human cryptosporidiosis in Argentina