Prevalence of Cryptosporidium and Giardia infections in cattle in Aragón (northeastern Spain)

Abstract

Faecal samples from 554 bovines randomly selected at 30 farms in Aragón were examined to investigate the prevalence of Cryptosporidium and Giardia infections. C. parvum oocysts were identified by using the Ziehl-Neelsen modified technique in 109 (19.7%) bovines ranging from 3 days old to adults. Positive animals were found in 19 (63.3%) farms. As much as 44.4% of calves aged 3-4 days were infected, but infection rates peaked at 6-15 days of age (76.7%). Nevertheless, prevalence was also high in weanling calves aged 1.5-4 months (14%), fattening calves and heifers 4-24 months old (7.7%) and adults (17.8%). Diarrhoea was recorded in 78.6% of suckling and 29.4% of weanling calves infected by C. parvum, but it was only found to be statistically associated with infection in suckling calves (P < 0.01). All calves shedding moderate or many oocysts had diarrhoea, whereas asymptomatic infection was always correlated with few oocysts in faeces. Cryptosporidial infections were always asymptomatic in bovines older than 4 months. Giardia cysts were identified in 65 bovines (11.7%) from 16 (53.3%) of the farms surveyed. Infection rates were significantly higher in suckling (14.1%) and weanling calves (38%) than in bovines older than 4 months (2.2%) (P < 0.001). Diarrhoea was recorded in 45.5% of suckling and 10.9% of weanling calves infected by Giardia, but it was not found to be statistically associated with infection. In fact, infection rates were higher in non-diarrhoeic than in diarrhoeic calves.

A Bayesian approach for the evaluation of six diagnostic assays and the estimation ofCryptosporidiumprevalence in dairy calves

“…Similar to previous reports [22,24,42], the peak in oocyst excretion in this study was observed in calves between 1 to 4 weeks of age. Although the oocyst excretion decreases in calves older than one month, the prevalence estimated by both PCR assays remained high in calves older than one month, on the contrary to other studies with a decrease in prevalence found in calves in the age category of 4 to 10 weeks [25,28]. The results of the present study indicate that calves between the age of 4 to 10 weeks can be an important source of infection for susceptible animals, although there is a possible shift in Cryptosporidium genotypes with age in calves [31].…”

Cezayir Çiftliklerinde Sığırlardaki Cryptosporidium Prevalansı ve Moleküler Karakterizasyonu

“…The results of Ziehl-Neelsen method showed that 68% (23/34) of dairy cattle were infected and the prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection in calves was 32% (28%-44%) which is similar to the results reported by other authors in Algeria [10][11][12] and Spain [18] and higher to the results showed in Turkey [19][20][21] . However, our results showed that the parasite prevalence on farms ranged from 6.25% to 100% of the sampled animals.…”

“…Cryptosporidium parvum is one of the major causes of neonatal calf diarrhea [1,12,18] . However, so far, studies on the prevalence of Cryptosporidium in Algeria [10,12] have been conducted without molecular characterization.…”

Risk factors for diarrhea in a cohort of dairy heifer calves reared in individual outdoor hutches in Piraí, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…In calves aged between 31 and 100 days old, the risk of diarrhea was not significantly associated with Cryptosporidium infection, which reinforces the importance of this protozoan in younger animals (GARBER et al, 1994;QUÍLEZ et al, 1996). For animals 31 to 100 days old, birth weight is a significant protective factor, i.e., higher birth weights and lower mortality rates during the rearing period (RAY, 1972).…”