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Infection patterns, clinical significance, and genetic characteristics of Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Giardia duodenalis in dairy cattle in Jiangsu, China

  • Protozoology - Original Paper
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Abstract

The infection patterns and clinical significance of Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Giardia duodenalis in dairy cattle remain poorly investigated despite their common occurrence. Data on the genetic diversity are also needed to understand the transmission and human-infective potential of the two pathogens. In this study, fecal specimens from 1366 dairy cattle on a large farm were examined for the presence and genotype distribution of E. bieneusi and G. duodenalis by PCR and DNA sequencing. The overall infection rates of E. bieneusi and G. duodenalis were 13.0% and 20.6%, respectively. Pre-weaned calves had significantly higher infection rates of both pathogens than post-weaned and adult cattle (P < 0.001), with peak occurrence of the pathogens in animals of 7–12 weeks. In both pre- and post-weaned calves, animals with diarrhea were 2.1–3.0 times more likely to be infected with either pathogen than those without diarrhea (P < 0.01). The E. bieneusi identified belonged to five genotypes, including J (n = 138), I (n = 21), BEB4 (n = 10), Type IV (n = 1), and a novel genotype CHC17 (n = 1). Genotype J was the dominant one in all age groups, whereas genotype I was only identified in calves of 6–11 weeks. Genotyping of G. duodenalis at three genetic loci identified assemblage E (n = 278), assemblage A (n = 2), and concurrence of the two (n = 1). Altogether, 13, 7 and 10 subtypes of assemblage E were detected at the bg, gdh, and tpi loci, respectively, forming 65 multilocus genotypes. The formation of two major clusters of MLGs in eBURST analysis indicated that intra-assemblage genetic recombination of two dominant MLGs could have led to the high genetic heterogeneity within assemblage E on a single farm. Results of this study provide much needed data on the pathogenicity of E. bieneusi and G. duodenalis in pre- and post-weaned calves. The clinical significance of the two pathogens in dairy cattle warrants further investigations.

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Funding

This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31602042) and National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFD0501305, 2017YFC1601206).

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Author notes

  1. Rui Wang and Na Li contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237, China

    Rui Wang, Wen Jiang, Xiaolan Wang, Yue Jin & Yaoyu Feng

  2. Key Laboratory of Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, South China Agricultural University, 483 Wushan Road, Guangzhou, 510642, China

    Na Li, Yaqiong Guo, Yaoyu Feng & Lihua Xiao

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  1. Rui Wang
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  2. Na Li
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  5. Xiaolan Wang
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  6. Yue Jin
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Correspondence to Yaoyu Feng or Lihua Xiao.

Ethics declarations

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the East China University of Science and Technology. Fecal specimens from dairy cattle were collected with the permission of the farm manager. During the specimen collection, cattle were handled in accordance with the Animal Ethics Procedures and Guidelines of the People’s Republic of China.

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Wang, R., Li, N., Jiang, W. et al. Infection patterns, clinical significance, and genetic characteristics of Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Giardia duodenalis in dairy cattle in Jiangsu, China. Parasitol Res 118, 3053–3060 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06426-3

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