title: Temporal occurrence of Cryptosporidium in the Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum in northern Adriatic Italian lagoons.
abstract: In order to evaluate the temporal occurrence of Cryptosporidium oocysts in Ruditapes philippinarum clams bred along the northeastern Italian Adriatic coast and molecularly characterize the isolates, 2,160 specimens (180 clams per month) were collected from three clam farms from January to December 2004. Two farms (sites A and B) were located in Venice (Chioggia, Veneto region) and one (site C) in the Marano Lagoons (Friuli Venezia Giulia region). Clams from 36 pools (i.e., one pool of 60 clams per month per site) were subjected to a high-sensitivity seminested PCR assay specific for a 360-bp diagnostic region internal to the Cryptosporidium spp. outer wall protein gene. Positive amplicons were sequenced and analyzed. Cryptosporidium DNA was found in clams from seven pools (sites A and B) during 1 month of sampling at site A and 6 months of sampling at site B, with Cryptosporidium hominis and Cryptosporidium parvum being detected. The expected infection rate of the clams was 0.36%. Site B showed a significantly higher expected infection rate (1.15%) than did the other sites (A = 0.14% and C = 0%). Given its high sensitivity and specificity, this seminested PCR assay can be considered a reliable tool for detecting and distinguishing species within the Cryptosporidium genus. The seasonal pattern of contamination and the related public health risks are of particular concern.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche Comparate, Università degli Studi di Teramo, Piazza Aldo Moro, 45 64100, Teramo, Italy.
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Molini
authors.forename: Donato
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Traversa
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ceschia
authors.forename: Raffaella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Iorio
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Boffo
authors.forename: Aurelio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zentilin
authors.forename: Gioia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Capelli
authors.forename: Annunziata
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giangaspero
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000382:microbiology*; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D003458:Cryptosporidium / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D016266:Food Parasitology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011634:Public Health; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012621:Seasons; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012758:Shellfish / Q000382:microbiology*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan