Unexpected finding of feline-specific Giardia duodenalis assemblage F and Cryptosporidium felis in asymptomatic adult cattle in Northern Spain

Abstract

Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp. are common enteric protozoan parasites in production animals, including cattle. Typically, both the clinical outcome of these infections and the distribution of G. duodenalis assemblages and Cryptosporidium species are age-dependent, with the occurrence of diarrhoeal disease being mainly associated with young animals and sub-clinical, low intensity infections being predominantly found in adult animals. To investigate the prevalence and genetic diversity of G. duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp. in asymptomatic adult cattle, a total of 362 faecal samples were collected in four farms in the province of Álava, Northern Spain, between November 2011 and December 2012. The presence of G. duodenalis was estimated by real-time PCR, and the assemblages were determined by multilocus sequence-based genotyping of the glutamate dehydrogenase and β-giardin genes of the parasite. Detection and identification of Cryptosporidium species was carried out by sequencing of a partial fragment of the small-subunit ribosomal RNA gene. Overall, G. duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp. were detected in 68 (18.8%) and 45 (12.4%), respectively, of the 362 animals tested. Strikingly, four isolates representing two novel sub-types of G. duodenalis assemblage F were identified at the gdh, but not the bg, locus. This is the first report describing the presence of the feline-specific G. duodenalis assemblage F in bovine isolates. Additionally, five (three novel and two known) sub-types of G. duodenalis assemblage E were also identified at the gdh locus and a single one (assigned to sub-assemblage EII) at the bg locus. Of nine Cryptosporidium isolates, four (including a novel sub-type) were assigned to the cat-specific C. felis, two were typed as C. bovis, and the remaining three were only characterized at the genus level. Data presented here provide epidemiological and molecular evidence demonstrating that the host range specificity of G. duodenalis assemblages and Cryptosporidium species may be wider than previously anticipated.

Keywords: Cattle; Cryptosporidium; Epidemiology; Genotyping; Giardia; Spain.