Molecular Detection of Cryptosporidium spp. and Enterocytozoon bieneusi Infection in Wild Rodents From Six Provinces in China

• Published in: Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology Vol. 11; p. 783508
• Main Authors: Ni, Hong-Bo, Sun, Yu-Zhe, Qin, Si-Yuan, Wang, Yan-Chun, Zhao, Quan, Sun, Zheng-Yao, Zhang, Miao, Yang, Ding, Feng, Zhi-Hui, Guan, Zheng-Hao, Qiu, Hong-Yu, Wang, Hao-Xian, Xue, Nian-Yu, Sun, He-Ting
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 25-11-2021
• Subjects: Animals; Cellular and Infection Microbiology; China; China - epidemiology; Cryptosporidiosis - epidemiology; Cryptosporidium - genetics; Cryptosporidium spp; Enterocytozoon - genetics; Enterocytozoon bieneusi; Feces; Genotype; genotyping; Mice; Microsporidiosis - epidemiology; Microsporidiosis - veterinary; Phylogeny; Prevalence; Rats; Sciuridae; wild rats; China; prevalence; wild rats; China; Cryptosporidium spp; Enterocytozoon bieneusi; genotyping
• ISSN: 2235-2988; 2235-2988
• DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.783508

(
)
and
spp. are the most important zoonotic enteric pathogens associated with diarrheal diseases in animals and humans. However, it is still not known whether
and
spp. are carried by wild rodents in Shanxi, Guangxi, Zhejiang, Shandong, and Inner Mongolia, China. In the present study, a total of 536 feces samples were collected from
,
,
(
)
, and
in six provinces of China, and were detected by PCR amplification of the SSU rRNA gene of
spp. and ITS gene of
from June 2017 to November 2020. Among 536 wild rodents, 62 (11.6%) and 18 (3.4%) samples were detected as
- and
spp.-positive, respectively. Differential prevalence rates of
and
spp. were found in different regions.
was more prevalent in
, whereas
spp. was more frequently identified in
. Sequence analysis indicated that three known
species/genotypes (
,
, and
sp. rat genotype II/III) and two uncertain
species (
sp. novel1 and
sp. novel2) were present in the investigated wild rodents. Meanwhile, 5 known
genotypes (XJP-II, EbpC, EbpA, D, and NCF7) and 11 novel
genotypes (ZJR1 to ZJR7, GXM1, HLJC1, HLJC2, and SDR1) were also observed. This is the first report for existence of
and
spp. in wild rodents in Shanxi, Guangxi, Zhejiang, and Shandong, China. The present study also demonstrated the existence of
and
spp. in
worldwide for the first time. This study not only provided the basic data for the distribution of
and
genotypes/species, but also expanded the host range of the two parasites. Moreover, the zoonotic
and
species/genotypes were identified in the present study, suggesting wild rodents are a potential source of human infections.