Abstract
Cryptosporidium is an emerging opportunistic zoonotic pathogen that causes diarrheal illness in a wide range of hosts including livestock and humans. This study set out to establish the prevalence of Cryptosporidium as well as the circulating genotypes in order to elucidate the potential role of cattle in the spread of human cryptosporidiosis. Rectal coprological samples from 363 cattle in 11 households in Kiruhura district, Southwestern Uganda were collected and screened for the presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts using the phenol auramine staining method followed by fluorescent microscopy. DNA was extracted from the microscopy positive samples and the COWP gene amplified using PCR. PCR products were sequenced and subjected to phylogenetic analysis. Additionally a multiplex realtime PCR was used to identify the Cryptosporidium spp. Multivariable mixed effect logistic regression models were used to identify potential risk factors for Cryptosporidium infection. The overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium was 7.7% (95% CI 5.1–10.9), and herd level prevalence was 33.3% (95% CI 18.5–52.2). We found a statistically significant difference (OR = 30.78, 95% CI 4.31–219.95, p = 0.001) between infection in bulls as compared to cows. There was no significant difference in the prevalence among the different cattle breeds sampled. All the sequenced COWP gene DNA amplicons were confirmed to be C. hominis, with 93%-100% identity to sequences in the GenBank. The amplification of the small subunit rRNA by multiplex realtime PCR further established that the isolates in this study are C. hominis. This study represents the first time naturally occurring C. hominis has been detected from cattle in Uganda.
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Data availability
The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on request.
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All software used to analyse data in this study is available online.
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Acknowledgements
Special thanks go to Phillip Kimuda Magambo, Kiseka Henry, Jonan Tubenawe, Monica Nambi and Mary Frances Nakamya for numerous helpful suggestions during the study.
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This research was partly funded by CIMTRADZ but they had no role in the design and execution of the study as well as the decision to publish this manuscript.
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SGW contributed to the conception of the idea, design, sample collection and data analysis and interpretation. SGW also contributed to preparation of the manuscript. AK contributed to conception of the idea, study design and interpretation of results and manuscript preparation. GA contributed to sample analysis and drafting of the manuscript. CK contributed to developing the study design, interpretation of results and preparation of the manuscript. CMM contributed to the designing of the molecular methods and preparation of the manuscript. SO contributed to the study design, data analysis and contributed to the development of the manuscript.
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This study was reviewed and approved by the Research Ethics Committee, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University under the reference number REC/2011/195. Written and verbal consent was obtained from the farmers before the sampling of animals.
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Witto, S.G., Kankya, C., Akurut, G. et al. The prevalence and genetic characterisation of Cryptosporidium isolates from cattle in Kiruhura district, South Western Uganda. J Parasit Dis 45, 778–789 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12639-021-01361-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12639-021-01361-6