Epidemiology of Cryptosporidium Infection of Cattle in Kerman/Iran and Molecular Genotyping of some Isolates

Background & Aims: Cryptosporidiosis is one of the most important parasitic zoonoses of human and animals. This infection is common in mammals and caused by the coccidian parasites of the genus Cryptosporidium. The Present study was designed to determine the epidemiology of Cryptosporidium infection in cattle in Kerman by using conventional morphological as well as molecular methods for molecular characterization. Methods: Fecal samples of cattle were collected fresh and directly from the rectum. Cryptosporidium oocysts were isolated by using formalin-ether sedimentation method followed by modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining technique. DNA of a number of isolates was extracted using QIAamp® DNA stool mini kit (Qiagen® ). A nested PCR-RFLP protocol amplifying ~ 850 bp fragment of SSU-rRNA gene used to differentiate species and genotypes of the isolates, using SspI and VspI as two restriction endonucleases. For each slide at least 20 oocysts were measured. Results: Seventy eight of 412 cattle (18.9%) were found to be infected. Cryptosporidium infection was associated with diarrhea (P=0.026) in a way that 31.8% of diarrheic cattle (14.44) and 17.4% of non diarrheic cattle (64.368) were infected. The rate of infection in suckling calves <2 months age was significantly higher than others (45.134 vs. 33.6%, P=0.000). In this study 4 isolates of C. andersoni and 8 isolates of C. parvum were found for the first time in Iran by using molecular techniques. Conclusion: Cryptosporidium infection is common in cattle of Kerman. Moreover, in spite of the presence of C.parvum as the dominant species in Iran, the presence of C.andersoni in Iran is reported for the first time by molecular techniques. Economic and public health problems resulted from infection by C.andersoni require more investigations in other parts of Kerman province and Iran.