Genotype analysis of Cryptosporidium spp. prevalent in a rural village in Hwasun-gun, Republic of Korea.
Two species of Cryptosporidium are known to infect man; C. hominis which shows anthroponotic transmission between humans, and C. parvum which shows zoonotic transmission between animals or between animals and man. In this study, we focused on identifying genotypes of Cryptosporidium prevalent among inhabitants and domestic animals (cattle and goats), to elucidate transmittal routes in a known endemic area in Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do, Republic of Korea. The existence of Cryptosporidium oocysts was confirmed using a modified Ziehl-Neelsen stain. Human infections were found in 7 (25.9%) of 27 people examined. Cattle cryptosporidiosis cases constituted 7 (41.2%) of 17 examined, and goat cases 3 (42.9%) of 7 examined. Species characterizations were performed on the small subunit of the rRNA gene using both PCR-RFLP and sequence analysis. Most of the human isolates were mixtures of C. hominis and C. parvum genotypes and similar PCR-RFLP patterns were observed in cattle and goat isolates. However, sequence analyses identified only C. hominis in all isolates examined. The natural infection of cattle and goats with C. hominis is a new and unique finding in the present study. It is suggested that human cryptosporidiosis in the studied area is caused by mixtures of C. hominis and C. parvum oocysts originating from both inhabitants and domestic animals.
Park
Jae-Hwan
JH
Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, and Institute of Endemic Diseases, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, Korea.
Guk
Sang-Mee
SM
Han
Eun-Taek
ET
Shin
Eun-Hee
EH
Kim
Jae-Lip
JL
Chai
Jong-Yil
JY
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D003457:Cryptosporidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D003458:Cryptosporidium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D016785:Cryptosporidium parvum / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry; D020459:Genes, rRNA / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D006041:Goats; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D015995:Prevalence; D012423:Rural Health
D017931:DNA Primers; D016054:DNA, Protozoan