Cryptosporidium parvum,Cryptosporidium ryanae, andCryptosporidium bovisin samples from calves in Austria

Fecal samples of 177 calves of up to 180 days of age with diarrhea from 70 farms in Austria were examined to obtain information on the occurrence ofCryptosporidiumspecies. Initially, all samples were examined by phase-contrast microscopy.Cryptosporidium-positive samples (55.4%;n = 98) were screened bygp60PCR, resulting in 68.4% (n = 67)C. parvum-positive samples. The remaining 31gp60-PCR-negative and the phase-contrast microscopy negative samples (n = 79) were screened by PCR targeting a 700 bp fragment of the18SrRNA gene. Sequencing of the PCR products revealed the presence ofC. parvum(n = 69),C. ryanae(n = 11), andC. bovis(n = 7). The latter two species have never been described in Austria.C. parvum-positive samples were genotyped at thegp60gene locus, featuring four subtypes (IIaA15G2R1, IIaA21G2R1, IIaA19G2R1, IIaA14G1R1). The most frequently detected subtype IIaA15G2R1 (n = 52) was present in calves from 30 different farms. IIaA14G1R1 (n = 5) occurred on a single farm, subtype IIaA21G2R1 (n = 4) on two farms, and subtype IIaA19G2R1 (n = 4) on three farms. The results confirm the widespread occurrence of zoonoticC. parvumin diarrheic calves.

Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien