Detection and molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium
For detection of
Cryptosporidium in faecal samples of cattle and cattle handlers, sheather’s sucrose flotation, mZN staining and PCR-RFLP tests were performed. In Sheather’s sucrose floatation, the oocysts appeared as round or oval, refractile bodies with a thin cytoplasmic membrane. However, in mZN staining, the oocysts appeared as spherical to ellipsoidal shaped pink to red stained bodies containing four sporozoites against a pale green background. All the faecal samples which were positive on microscopy were also positive for
18S (SSU) r-RNA gene with an amplicon size of 1745 bp (Fig 1). These gene amplicons were subjected to nested PCR and subsequently PCR-RFLP analysis to detect
Cryptosporidium species and genotypes of
C.
parvum considering its zoonotic significance. Nested PCR assay revealed the 1325 bp band in primary PCR and 825 bp bands in the secondary PCR (Fig 2 and 3). The nested PCR product of 825 bp size holds the key information for species differentiation of
Cryptosporidium.
The incidence of
Cryptosporidium was recorded as 16 per cent and 7 per cent in cattle and cattle handlers, respectively from West district of Tripura.
Brar et al., (2017) reported 25 per cent and 33 per cent incidence of cryptosporidiosis in bovine calves by mZN staining and commercial ELISA, respectively.
Thakre et al., (2017) also reported higher incidence (41.59%) of
Cryptosporidium in bovine faeces.
The PCR-RFLP analysis using restriction enzyme
SspI revealed 14 bovine
Cryptosporidium as
C.
parvum and two as
C.
andersoni while out of the seven human
Cryptosporidium, three were
C.
parvum. The PCR-RFLP analysis using restriction enzyme
SspI revealed distinct band patterns for
C andersoni (448 bp and 370 bp) (Fig 4) and
C.
parvum (108 bp, 267 bp and 449 bp) (Fig 5). Similar band pattern in PCR-RFLP analysis for
C.
parvum and
C.
andersoni in faeces from cattle was earlier reported by
Xiao et al., (1999) and
Feng et al., (2007).
Cryptosporidium parvum was previously reported as the most prevalent
Cryptosporidium species in India
(Khan et al., 2010). However, simultaneous detection of
C.
andersoni and
C.
parvum in cattle indicates the possibility of cross contamination and easy transmission of this parasite
(Zhao et al., 2014). Rekha et al., (2016) reported 5.71 per cent
Cryptosporidium in bovine with occurrence of
C.
parvum in calves and
C.
andersoni in adult animals.
Further, RFLP analysis using restriction enzyme
VspI revealed that all the 14
C.
parvum of cattle origin and one
C.
parvum of human origin belonged to bovine genotype (genotype II) and other two human
C.
parvum belonged to the human genotype (genotype I). In RFLP analysis by using
VspI enzyme, two distinct bands of 628 bp and 104 bp (Fig 6) represented bovine genotype (genotype II) and two distinct bands of size 556 bp and 104 bp (Fig 7) represented human genotype (genotype I) of
C.
parvum. Similar band patterns of
C.
parvum genotype I and genotype II had been reported by
Xiao et al., (1999). However,
Feng et al., (2007) reported the possibility of some missing bands in agarose gel electrophoresis subsequent to RFLP analysis of
C.
parvum due to small band size.
Demographic and environmental associates of Cryptosporidiosis
Demographic, geographic, seasonal and socioeconomic status has been contributing to infection sources and transmission routes in the distribution of
Cryptosporidium spp. in animals and humans. Risk factor association analysis of cryptosporidiosis has revealed that
Cryptosporidium infection is strongly associated with age and faecal consistency of infected cattle and cattle handlers.
A significantly (p<0.01) higher incidence of
Cryptosporidium was recorded in young calves of below 6 months (32.35%) than above 6 months (7.57%) (Table 2). Age related variations in the distribution of
Cryptosporidium had been observed in earlier studies and pre-weaned calves were the major sources of
C.
parvum. Decreased rate of infection along with increased age might be ascribed to strengthened immunological competence of the host with increased age and thereby suppressing the infection to a latent stage and thus the adult animals might act as asymptomatic carriers and act as a source of infection for young animals
(Xiao and Feng, 2008; Das et al., 2015). It has been indicated that bovine cryptosporidiosis is a disease of neonates and the higher susceptibility of calves to
Cryptosporidium has been recorded from different states of India, namely Assam (28.41%)
(Das et al., 2015), Kashmir (29.37%)
(Sheikh et al., 2007), Pondicherry (25.00%)
(Kumar et al., 2004), Uttar Pradesh (35.50%)
(Jeyabal and Ray, 2005) and Punjab (33%)
(Brar et al., 2017). The susceptibility of bovine calves to
C.
parvum significantly (p<0.05) decreased with increasing age, below one month (67.26%), 1-3 months (37.11%), 4-8 months (30%) and 9-12 months (17.65%)
(Thakre et al., 2017).
In cattle handlers, 17.65 per cent and 5.19 per cent incidence of
Cryptosporidium was recorded in 0-5 years and >10 years age group, respectively (Table 2). Age specific distribution of human cryptosporidiosis showed the highest prevalence in 0 to 24 months age group with the consistent peak occurrence in 0 to 12 months age groups
(Pal et al., 2010; Das et al., 2011). The majority of the children in this study were the members of the cattle farmer’s family who live in close contact with animals and belonged to low socio economic status with poor personal hygiene. Thus, direct animal to human and person to person transmission probably played an important role in the epidemiology of
Cryptosporidium in children. In addition, most of the infected children and adults probably shared the common water sources with the animals like pond, stream and other natural water bodies.
Cryptosporidium infects the intestine of young calves, humans and other animals resulting in acute enteritis and diarrhoea and the intensity of shedding oocyst has been higher in calves with diarrhoea
(Khan et al., 2010; Das et al., 2015). There was a positive association between
Cryptosporidium infection and diarrhoeic stools in both cattle and human. The occurrence of
Cryptosporidium infection was significantly (p<0.01) higher in diarrhoeic cattle (31.25%) than non-diarrhoeic (8.82%) cattle. However, only diarrhoeic cattle handlers (29.16%) were positive for
Cryptosporidium (Table 2). Similarly, higher incidence of
Cryptosporidium has been reported in diarrhoeic cattle (24.20%, 50.00%, 32.90%, 81.00%, 24.20% and 59.54%) than non-diarrhoeic cattle (16. 60%, 25. 68%, 7.40%, 18.99%, 16.60% and 29.41%) from Karnataka, Punjab, West Bengal, Assam, Bangaluru and Gujarat irrespective of organized and un-organized farming system
(Mallinath et al., 2009; Singh et al., 2006; Das et al., 2011; Das et al., 2015; Rekha et al., 2016; Thakre et al., 2017), respectively. Similarly, 13.80 per cent diarrhoeic and 3.70 per cent non-diarrhoeic human stool samples were found to be positive for
Cryptosporidium (Das et al., 2011).
There was no significant (p>0.05) sex predominance in the occurrence of
Cryptosporidium in cattle and figured as 12.00 per cent and 17.33 per cent in male and female, respectively (Table 2). However, the lower incidence of cryptosporidiosis in male animals might be attributed to the smaller number of male calves screened since most of them were culled after birth and the female calves were in more contact with the cows.
Thakre et al., (2017) and
Bhat et al., (2019) also reported that both sexes of ruminants are equally susceptible to cryptosporidiosis. Similarly, there was no sex wise variation in the incidence of
Cryptosporidium in cattle handlers, 5.45 per cent in male and 8.89 per cent in female. The involvement of both man and woman in the small traditional farming activities in NER probably attributes to the less gender wise difference in the occurrence of
Cryptosporidium in human.
The seasonal variation of
Cryptosporidium infection in cattle and cattle handlers revealed highest incidence in monsoon (26.83% and 15.63%) followed by summer (14.29% and 5.56%), respectively. However, the incidence was significantly (p<0.05) lower in cattle (3.23%) and not detectable in cattle handlers during winter season (Table 2). Similar findings were also recorded by
Das et al., (2015) with highest occurrence in monsoon (27.88%) followed by pre-monsoon (20.14%) and post-monsoon (8.38%). The highest prevalence of cryptosporidiosis in cattle (45.15%) and human (6.30%) during rainy season was also recorded by
Das et al., (2011) and
Thakre et al., (2017), respectively. In India, environmental ecology has major effect on transmission of cryptosporidiosis and high incidence of cryptosporidiosis during monsoon has been reported in earlier studies in both cattle and human
(Bhat et al., 2014; Kali, 2014). High temperature and humidity along with frequent rains in monsoon season enabled the faster transmission of the oocysts. Further, due to the longer viability of oocysts in water and its resistance towards chlorine, sporadic cases as well as waterborne outbreaks of
Cryptosporidium are common in monsoon season.