Abstract.
Cryptosporidium parvum is a major parasitic cause of death in end-stage AIDS patients that results from both zoonotic and person-to-person transmission. Recent studies have provided evidence that parasites causing zoonotic disease and those causing anthroponotic infection are genetically distinct. Isolates carrying "animal"-type genetic markers were presumed to be the result of zoonotic spread, either directly or through contaminated food and water. The need for a genotype-specific diagnostic tool that can provide clues as to the origin and possible modes of spread of C. parvum strains has been recognised. Here, we report the development of such a tool for C. parvum based on polymerase chain reaction-enzyme linked immunosorbent assay that enables the accurate typing of isolates from HIV-seropositive and HIV-negative patients presenting with diarrhoea from the United Kingdom and Canada. This study also showed that zoonotic transmission might be predominant in the HIV-positive patient group in the United Kingdom.
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Gibbons, C.L., Ong, C.S., Miao, Y. et al. PCR-ELISA: a new simplified tool for tracing the source of cryptosporidiosis in HIV-positive patients. Parasitol Res 87, 1031–1034 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004360100491
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004360100491