Animal Quarantine Division, Agricultural Policy Bureau, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea.
Graduate of Veterinary Biosecurity and Protection, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea.
Parasitol Res. 2023 Sep;122(9):2045-2054. doi: 10.1007/s00436-023-07904-5. Epub 2023 Jun 22.
Severe diarrhea was reported in goat kids in Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea, from 2021 to 2023, and Cryptosporidium infection was suspected. To confirm the cause of this outbreak, fecal samples were collected from goat farms where diarrhea had been reported and analyzed for Cryptosporidium infection using a molecular assay. A total of 65 fecal samples, including 37 from goats with diarrhea and 28 from goats without diarrhea, were collected from six goat farms. Forty-eight of the goats were kids (<2 months) and 17 were adults (>1 year). Cryptosporidium was identified in 53.8% (35/65) of total samples. Overall, 86.5% (32/37) of the diarrheic fecal samples tested positive; however, Cryptosporidium was not detected in any fecal sample from non-diarrheic adult goats. Therefore, cryptosporidiosis was significantly associated with diarrhea in goat kids, and adult goats were not responsible for transmission of Cryptosporidium to them. Phylogenetic analysis and molecular characterization revealed two Cryptosporidium species, namely, C. parvum (n = 28) and C. xiaoi (n = 7). In the C. parvum-positive samples, gp60 gene analysis revealed three zoonotic subtypes-IIaA18G3R1, IIdA15G1, and IIdA16G1. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to identify C. parvum IIaA18G3R1 and IIdA16G1 in goats, as well as the first to identify C. xiaoi in goats in Korea. These results suggest that goat kids play an important role as reservoir hosts for different Cryptosporidium species and that continuous monitoring with biosecurity measures is necessary to control cryptosporidiosis outbreaks.
韩国忠清北道 2021 年至 2023 年期间有山羊幼崽出现严重腹泻症状，疑似感染隐孢子虫。为了确认此次疫情的原因，从出现腹泻症状的山羊养殖场采集粪便样本，并使用分子检测方法分析隐孢子虫感染情况。共从六家山羊养殖场采集了 65 份粪便样本，其中 37 份来自腹泻山羊，28 份来自无腹泻山羊。48 只山羊为幼崽（<2 个月），17 只为成年羊（>1 岁）。在 65 份总样本中，35 份（53.8%）鉴定出隐孢子虫。总体而言，37 份腹泻粪便样本中有 32 份（86.5%）呈阳性；然而，任何非腹泻成年山羊的粪便样本中均未检测到隐孢子虫。因此，隐孢子虫病与山羊幼崽腹泻显著相关，成年山羊并非隐孢子虫向其传播的源头。系统进化分析和分子特征表明存在两种隐孢子虫，即小隐孢子虫（n=28）和微小隐孢子虫（n=7）。在小隐孢子虫阳性样本中，gp60 基因分析显示存在三种人畜共患病亚型-IIaA18G3R1、IIdA15G1 和 IIdA16G1。据我们所知，本研究首次在山羊中鉴定出小隐孢子虫 IIaA18G3R1 和 IIdA16G1，也是首次在韩国山羊中鉴定出微小隐孢子虫。这些结果表明，山羊幼崽是不同隐孢子虫种的重要储存宿主，需要持续监测并采取生物安全措施来控制隐孢子虫病疫情。
