Molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium parvum detected in Japanese black and Holstein calves in Iwate Prefecture and Tanegashima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan

Cryptosporidium oocysts were found in 43 out of 77 calves from two farms in Iwate Prefecture and nine farms on Tanegashima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The DNA fragments of 18S ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) gene were amplified by a nested PCR from 43 oocyst-positive as well as one oocyst-negative samples. All of them were precisely identified as C. parvum by analyzing the nucleotide sequences of the 18S rRNA gene. C. parvum oocyst-positive calves ranged in age from 6 to 13 days old and significantly have watery diarrhea (P<0.05). Sequences of the gene encoding the 60-kDa glycoprotein (GP60) in 43 Cryptosporidium oocyst-positive samples were identical to that of the zoonotic IIaA15G2R1 subtype. We therefore suggest that calves could be potential sources of C. parvum infections in humans.