First Epidemiological Report on the Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Cryptosporidium spp. in Farmed Marine and Wild Freshwater Fish in Central and Eastern of Algeria

• Published in: Acta parasitologica Vol. 67; no. 3; pp. 1152 - 1161
• Main Authors: Reghaissia, Nassiba, Maxamhud, Sadiya, Laatamna, AbdElkarim, Samari, Houssem, Dahmane, AbdEldjalil, Berima, Rabeh, Abdelli, Amine, Hakem, Ahcene, Baroudi, Djamel, Tsaousis, Anastasios D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-09-2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cryptosporidium; Ecology; Epidemiology; Feces; Fish; Fresh water; Freshwater environments; Freshwater fish; Gene sequencing; Genotyping; Glycoproteins; Marine fish; Medical Microbiology; Microbiology; Original Paper; Parasitology; Polymerase chain reaction; Protozoa; Risk analysis; Risk factors; rRNA; Species; Statistical analysis; Algeria; Fish; spp; Algeria; Prevalence; Molecular characterization; Cryptosporidium spp
• ISSN: 1230-2821; 1896-1851
• DOI: 10.1007/s11686-022-00560-2

Purpose
The present study aimed to estimate the prevalence and molecular characterization of
Cryptosporidium
spp. in six different fish species both from marine and freshwater environments.
Methods
During a period of 2 years (2018–2020), a total of 415 fecal samples and 565 intestinal scrapings were collected in seven provinces from the central and eastern Algeria. From those, 860 fish belonged to six different species, two of which are cultured marine and four are wild freshwater fish. All samples were screened for
Cryptosporidium
spp. presence using molecular techniques. Nested PCR approach was performed to amplify partial sequences of the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) and 60-kDa glycoprotein (GP60) genes for
Cryptosporidium
genotyping and subtyping. Detailed statistical analysis was performed to assess the prevalence variation of
Cryptosporidium
infection according to different risk factors.
Results
Nested PCR analysis of SSU gene revealed 173
Cryptosporidium
positive fish, giving an overall prevalence of 20.11% (17.5–23.0).
Cryptosporidium
spp. was detected in 8.93% (42/470) of cultured marine fish and 33.58% (131/390) of wild freshwater fish. Overall, the prevalence was affected by all studied risk factors, except the gender. Molecular characterization and subtyping of
Cryptosporidium
isolates showed occurrence of IIaA16G2R1 and IIaA17G2R1 subtypes of
C. parvum
in the fish species
Sparus aurata
.
Conclusion
The present study provides the first epidemiological data on the prevalence and associated risk factors of
Cryptosporidium
spp. in farmed marine and wild freshwater fish and the first molecular data on the occurrence of zoonotic
C. parvum
in fish from North Africa (Algeria).