Elsevier

Acta Tropica

Volume 209, September 2020, 105551
Acta Tropica

Prevalence and molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium spp. in pigs in Xinjiang, China

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actatropica.2020.105551Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Total of 17.9% (143/801) Cryptosporidium spp. infections in pigs in Xinjiang

  • Three zoonotic Cryptosporidium species were identified in pigs in Xinjiang

  • Cryptosporidium suis was the predominantly identified species (62.9%, 90/143)

  • First report of C. parvum in pigs in China, and subtyped as IIdA14G1, IIdA15G1

Abstract

Cryptosporidium spp. are distributed ubiquitously worldwide, and pigs are considered as one of the main reservoir hosts. Eight hundred one porcine fecal specimens were collected from seven intensive pig farms in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. Cryptosporidium spp. were screened via PCR amplification of the small ribosomal subunit RNA gene, and 143 specimens (17.9%, 143/801) from all seven farms tested positive for Cryptosporidium spp. Cryptosporidium prevalence in the pigs differed significantly among farms (p < 0.01). The highest Cryptosporidium spp. prevalence in post-weaned pigs was 39.5% (111/281), followed by fattening pigs (23.2%, 30/129), pre-weaned pigs (1.2%, 2/169), and sows (0/222). Significant differences were observed between age groups (p < 0.01). C. suis was the predominantly identified species (62.9%, 90/143), followed by C. scrofarum (35.7%, 51/143), and C. parvum (1.4%, 2/143). Two C. parvum specimens were subtyped by analyzing the 60-kDa glycoprotein (gp60) gene sequences and were identified as IIdA14G1 and IIdA15G1. To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. parvum infection in pigs in China. The identification of three Cryptosporidium species, including zoonotic C. parvum in pigs in Xinjiang raises concern for the health of both swine animals and personnel in the pig industry.

Introduction

Cryptosporidium spp. are distributed ubiquitously worldwide and infect a wide range of vertebrate hosts, typically causing self-limiting diarrhea in humans and livestock (Hatam-Nahavandi et al., 2019). To date, at least 38 Cryptosporidium species and 70 genotypes have been identified in various hosts (Feng et al., 2018). Six Cryptosporidium species have been isolated in pigs: C. suis, C. parvum, C. muris, C. andersoni, C. scrofarum (formerly Cryptosporidium pig genotype II), and C. tyzzeri (formerly Cryptosporidium mouse genotype I) (Ren et al., 2012; Kváč et al., 2013; Zheng et al., 2019). Studies using experimental infection have demonstrated that pigs can also be infected with zoonotic C. hominis and C. meleagridis (Akiyoshi et al., 2003; Sheoran et al., 2012).

Among susceptible animals, pigs are considered among the main animal reservoir hosts for Cryptosporidium spp. (Leoni et al., 2006; Lin et al., 2015; Feng et al., 2020). The main Cryptosporidium species in pigs worldwide are C. suis and C. scrofarum. C. suis is repeatedly identified in humans and causes digestive system ailments (Leoni et al., 2006; Bodager et al., 2014). C. scrofarum has been reported to infect humans in the Czech Republic (Kváč et al., 2009). These two pig-adapted Cryptosporidium species are potentially zoonotic.

The pig industry plays a dominant role in animal husbandry in China, and the prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection in pigs has been reported in several provinces in China (Wang et al., 2010; Zou et al., 2017; Zheng et al., 2019). However, no studies have investigated Cryptosporidium infection prevalence in pigs in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (hereinafter referred to as Xinjiang). Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the species and genotypes of Cryptosporidium in domestic pigs in Xinjiang, northwestern China, and elucidate the significance to public health.

Section snippets

Ethical approval

The Research Ethics Committee of Henan Agricultural University reviewed and approved our study (approval no. LVRIAEC 2017-019). Appropriate permission was obtained from animal owners or managers before collecting specimens.

Specimens collection

During the period from September 2017 to June 2018, 801 fresh fecal specimens were collected from Duroc and Landrace pigs. The present study involved pigs from seven intensive pig farms located at Marabishi, Alaer, Yarkant, Baicheng, Shaya, Changji and Ruoqiang areas in

Cryptosporidium spp. prevalence in pigs by sites

Of the 801 fecal specimens collected from seven farms, 143 (17.9%) from all seven farms tested positive for Cryptosporidium based on the SSU rRNA gene. The highest prevalence was observed on a farm in Baicheng (31.3%, 33/99), followed by Shaya (30.0%, 30/100), Marabishi (27.6%, 27/98), Changji (16.9%, 22/130), Ruoqiang (15.4%, 23/149), Yarkant (6.2%, 8/130), and Alaer (2.1%, 2/95; Table 1). The Cryptosporidium spp. prevalence in the pigs differed significantly among farms (p < 0.01).

Cryptosporidium spp. prevalence in pigs by age groups

The highest

Discussion

Pig manure is considered a main storage reservoir for Cryptosporidium spp. (Hatam-Nahavandi et al., 2019), with higher prevalences in pigs in Australia (22.1%, 64/289) (Johnson et al., 2008), Japan (32.6%, 112/344) (Yui et al., 2014), and the Czech Republic (21.1%, 87/413) (Kvác et al., 2009) and lower prevalences in Ireland (11.4%, 39/342) (Zintl et al. 2007) and Texas in the US (1.6%, 6/370) (Rodriguez-Rivera et al., 2016). In the present study, Cryptosporidium spp. prevalence in pigs in

Conclusions

Three Cryptosporidium species were identified in pigs in Xinjiang, China, in the present study. To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. parvum infection in pigs in China. Measures such as improved breeding management and safe disposal of pig feces are needed to avoid the spread of pathogens in the pig industry and for public health.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Meng Qi: Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Project administration, Resources, Writing - original draft. Qiyuan Zhang: Investigation. Chunyan Xu: Investigation. Ying Zhang: Investigation. Jinming Xing: Methodology. Dayong Tao: Methodology. Junqiang Li: Data curation, Formal analysis, Software, Visualization, Writing - original draft. Longxian Zhang: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Writing - review & editing.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Funding

This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 31702227) and the Program for Young and Middle-aged Leading Science, Technology, and Innovation of Xinjiang Production & Construction Group (grant number 2018CB034). The sponsors had no role in the study design, in collecting, analyzing, or interpreting the data, in writing the report, or in the decision to submit the article for publication.

Acknowledgment

We thank Traci Raley, MS, ELS, from Liwen Bianji, Edanz Editing China (www.liwenbianji.cn/ac) for editing a draft of this manuscript.

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