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Longitudinal surveillance of Cryptosporidium spp. in broiler chickens in Xinjiang, northwest China: genetic diversity of Cryptosporidium meleagridis subtypes

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Xinwei Feng
Xinwei Feng
Xinwei Feng
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Haixin Tuo
Haixin Tuo
Haixin Tuo
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TianTian Li
TianTian Li
TianTian Li
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Fuchang Yu at Tarim University
Fuchang Yu
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Abstract and Figures

Cryptosporidium spp. are common enteric parasites in humans and animals. Herein, 175 faecal specimens were collected from a broiler farm in Xinjiang, China, including seven repeated samplings at 10-day intervals of broilers aged 10 to 70 days. Cryptosporidium was detected and identified by PCR–RFLP analysis. The overall infection rate of Cryptosporidium in broilers was 23.4% (41/175), with the highest infection rate of 48.0% (12/25) at 40 days of age, and no infection was detected at 10 days of age. Two Cryptosporidium species were confirmed, namely, C. baileyi (3.4%, 6/175) and C. meleagridis (20%, 35/175). In total, 21 of 35 C. meleagridis isolates were successfully subtyped based on the gp60 gene, and one known subtype, IIIgA22G3R1 (n = 1), and three novel subtypes, IIIbA25G1R1 (n = 10), IIIgA24G3R1 (n = 9) and IIIgA25G2R1 (n = 1), were identified. Our findings highlight the genetic diversity of C. meleagridis in Xinjiang and the potential endemic characteristics of the subtypes.
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Vol.:(0123456789)
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https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07683-5
RESEARCH
Longitudinal surveillance ofCryptosporidium spp. inbroiler chickens
inXinjiang, northwest China: genetic diversity ofCryptosporidium
meleagridis subtypes
XinweiFeng1· HaixinTuo1· TianTianLi2· FuchangYu1· DongfangHu2· XuefengYang2· YamingGe2· MengQi1·
XuehanLiu2
Received: 17 June 2022 / Accepted: 27 September 2022
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2022
Abstract
Cryptosporidium spp. are common enteric parasites in humans and animals. Herein, 175 faecal specimens were collected
from a broiler farm in Xinjiang, China, including seven repeated samplings at 10-day intervals of broilers aged 10 to 70days.
Cryptosporidium was detected and identified by PCR–RFLP analysis. The overall infection rate of Cryptosporidium in broil-
ers was 23.4% (41/175), with the highest infection rate of 48.0% (12/25) at 40days of age, and no infection was detected at
10days of age. Two Cryptosporidium species were confirmed, namely, C. baileyi (3.4%, 6/175) and C. meleagridis (20%,
35/175). In total, 21 of 35 C. meleagridis isolates were successfully subtyped based on the gp60 gene, and one known
subtype, IIIgA22G3R1 (n = 1), and three novel subtypes, IIIbA25G1R1 (n = 10), IIIgA24G3R1 (n = 9) and IIIgA25G2R1
(n = 1), were identified. Our findings highlight the genetic diversity of C. meleagridis in Xinjiang and the potential endemic
characteristics of the subtypes.
Keywords Cryptosporidium· Longitudinal surveillance· Dynamic infection· Subtype characteristics· Broiler
Introduction
Cryptosporidium is a protozoan that infects humans and
other animals worldwide, resulting in gastroenteric disease
in mammals and respiratory disease in birds (Ryan etal.
2021a; Yang etal. 2021). This protist is commonly trans-
mitted through the faecal–oral route, including direct con-
tact with infected people and animals or the consumption
of contaminated provisions in the food chain (Ryan etal.
2021b). To date, approximately 49 confirmed species of
Cryptosporidium have been reported in humans and animals
(Jezkova etal. 2021; Prediger etal. 2021; Ryan etal. 2021b).
Of them, C. baileyi, C. meleagridis, C. galli and C. avium
are the major host-adapted pathogens that infect birds, with
C. baileyi being the predominant pathogen of domestic poul-
try (Nakamura and Meireles 2015; Xiao and Cama 2018). C.
meleagridis, as an important zoonotic species emerging in
humans and some other mammals, can cause mild to severe
diarrhoea (Ryan etal. 2021a, b), whereas C. baileyi, C. galli
and C. avium specifically infect birds (Holubova etal. 2018;
Ryan etal. 2021b).
The poultry industry in China is the largest in the world
and plays an important role in agricultural economic growth.
Multiple reports have confirmed that the Cryptosporidium
infection rate in chickens varies from 0.7 to 34% (Baroudi
etal. 2013; Hamidinejat etal. 2014; Elkarim Laatamna etal.
2017). Most Cryptosporidium isolates infecting chickens
were identified based on a cross-sectional survey to statically
assess the infection status in either intensive breeding farms
or free-range chickens (da Cunha etal. 2018; Liao etal.
2018; Kabir etal. 2020). We performed the current study to
longitudinally survey the incidence of Cryptosporidium in
broilers using genetic tools, with the aim of gaining further
Section Editor: Yaoyu Feng.
* Meng Qi
qimengdz@163.com
* Xuehan Liu
liuxuehan1986@126.com
1 College ofAnimal Science andTechnology, Tarim
University, Alar843300, Xinjiang, China
2 College ofAnimal Science andTechnology, Henan
Institute ofScience andTechnology, Xinxiang453003,
HenanProvince, China
/ Published online: 7 October 2022
Parasitology Research (2022) 121:3589–3595
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
... Currently, 12 species (Cryptosporidium baileyi, C. meleagridis, C. galli, C. avium, C. proventriculi, C. ornithophilus, C. parvum, C. andersoni, C. hominis, C. muris, C. ubiquitum, and C. canis) and 15 genotypes (avian genotypes I, IV, and VI-IX, genotype BrPRI, goose genotypes I-V, black duck genotype, woodcock genotype, and C. xiaoi-like genotype) of Cryptosporidium have been documented in birds worldwide (Hijjawi et al. 2022;Lin et al. 2022;Nakamura and Meireles 2015;Santana et al. 2022;Wang et al. 2021). Among these, C. baileyi is the most frequent species for domestic poultry, especially in chickens (Feng et al. 2022a;Xiao and Cama 2018), followed by zoonotic C. meleagridis, with humans, birds, and some mammals being infected (Khan and Witola 2023;Ryan et al. 2021a). In addition, C. galli and C. avium specifically infect avian species (Nakamura and Meireles 2015). ...
... In China, the development of the poultry industry is more closely related to the quality of people's lives compared with other countries in the world. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium in chickens is 1.3% to 13.2% in China, and the species distribution of Cryptosporidium infecting chickens derived from different regions also varies (Feng et al. 2022a;Lin et al. 2022). However, literature on the ...
... Cryptosporidium infection in chickens seemed to have no age correlation. In this study, broilers aged < 30 days had no infection, which was distinct from those published showing that positive infection existed in all age groups in other provinces (Feng et al. 2022a;Lin et al. 2022;Wang et al. 2010). Moreover, the oldest age broilers (> 90 days) had the highest infection rate in the current findings. ...
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... Duck and goose genotypes I-IV have been found exclusively in the order Anseriformes (Morgan et al., 2001;Xiao et al., 2002;Jellison et al., 2004Jellison et al., , 2007Jellison et al., , 2009Zhou et al., 2004;Koehler et al., 2016;Da Cunha et al., 2017), with the exception of the detection of goose genotype II in the faeces of migratory whooper swans , which was likely due to mechanical carriage. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium in domestic poultry ranges from 0.7 % to 75.0 % (~15-19 % mean), with C. baileyi and C. meleagridis, the most common species identified (Nakamura and Meireles, 2015;Feng et al., 2022bFeng et al., , 2022aFeng et al., , 2023. ...
... Cryptosporidium meleagridis has been described in a wide variety of avian species (Table 1). The majority of reports in birds have been in farmed and caged birds or birds in rehabilitation centres, probably due to the high density and overcrowding of susceptible animals (Nakamura et al., 2009, Abe andWang et al., 2010;Berrilli et al., 2012;Silverlås et al., 2012;Wang et al., 2012;Baroudi et al., 2013;Wang et al., 2014;Li et al., 2015;Reboredo-Fernández et al., 2015, Máca and Pavlásek, 2016, Ewald et al., 2017Ayinmode et al., 2018;Da Cunha et al., 2018;Liao et al., 2018;Santana et al., 2018;Kabir et al., 2020;Dong et al., 2021;Gong et al., 2021;Liao et al., 2021;Feng et al., 2022aFeng et al., , 2022bLin et al., 2022). ...
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