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 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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All data generated and analysed during this study are included in the article as published. The representative unique nucleotide sequences obtained herein were submitted to the GenBank database under the accession numbers ON036186 through ON036189.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to breeders for their help during the collection of faecal specimens.
Funding
This study was supported by the Program for Young and Middle-aged Leading Science, Technology, and Innovation of the Xinjiang Production & Construction Groups (2018CB034). Funding sources had no role in the design of the study, collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data or manuscript preparation.
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MQ and XHL conceived and designed the experiments. XWF, HXT and TTL collected the samples. TTL, FCY, YMG, and XFY performed the experiments and data analyses. XWF and XHL wrote and revised the main manuscript. XHL and DFH prepared Fig. 1. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Approval by the ethics committee was not required in this study. Faecal samples from broilers were collected with the permission of the farm. No specific permits were required for the described field studies, and no animals were harmed during the sampling process.
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Section Editor: Yaoyu Feng.
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Feng, X., Tuo, H., Li, T. et al. Longitudinal surveillance of Cryptosporidium spp. in broiler chickens in Xinjiang, northwest China: genetic diversity of Cryptosporidium meleagridis subtypes. Parasitol Res 121, 3589–3595 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07683-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07683-5