Occurrence and molecular identification of Cryptosporidium species isolated from cattle in Poland

Cryptosporidiosis is a disease reported in both humans and animals and is caused by a protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium. In most cases calves are infected by different Cryptosporidium species adapted to this animal host. Most infections are subclinical; however in some cases the watery diarrhea appears. The rapid development of new molecular diagnostic tools has provided an opportunity for better recognition of Cryptosporidium species and genotypes isolated from infected hosts. The aim of this study was an assessment of the prevalence of Cryptosporidium species in cattle herds in Poland. In total, 700 cattle fecal samples were tested. The examined cattle were at the age of 1 day to 6 years old. Overall 194 farms were monitored for parasite presence. Cryptosporidium detection in animal feces was performed using only molecular methods. Species identity of oocyst-positive samples were defined on the basis of PCR-RFLP and nucleotide sequence analysis of the amplified 18 SSU rRNA and COWP gene fragments. Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected in 119 (17%) of cattle feces. Most of the positive feces 55 (19.7%) were derived from young animals at the age of 1-4 weeks. The tested samples were positive for Cryptosporidium bovis, Cryptosporidium parvum, Cryptosporidium andersoni, and Cryptosporidium ryanae. C. parvum was not the most frequently detected parasite species, but calves below the age of 1 month were the major host for this parasite. The overall prevalence of C. parvum in Polish cattle herds was estimated at 5.1%. C. andersoni was the only species occurring in adult calves. The infected animals were housed in 67 (34.5%) of the monitored homesteads. Although C. bovis and C. ryanae were previously detected in cattle populations in many countries, this is the first report describing their presence in Polish cattle. Moreover, this is the first report on the prevalence of Cryptosporidium species in Polish cattle herds.