title: Prevalence and molecular identification of cryptosporidium spp. In pre-weaned dairy calves in mashhad area, khorasan razavi province, iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cryptosporidium parvum is a zoonotic pathogen transmissible from a variety of animals to humans and is a considerable public health concern. Dairy cattle have been identified in numerous reports as a major source of environmental contamination with this pathogen. The aim of study was to detect and isolate the Cryptosporidium spp. from fecal samples of naturally infected pre-wean calves in the Mashhad area.
  
  
  METHODS
  Overall, 300 fecal specimens from 1 to 30 days pre-weaned calves were collected from 10 farms in the Mashhad area the capital center of the Khorasan Razavi Province, Iran and microscopically examined for Cryptosporidium spp. All infected samples were also analyzed using nested -PCR. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the small-subunit (SSU) rRNA gene was also used to detect and identify Cryptosporidium spp. in PCR- positive samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty five (28.3%) of the specimens were positive for Cryptosporidium spp. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. in 8-14 days old and diarrheic calves were significantly higher than other groups. Restriction digestion of the PCR products by SspI, VspI restriction enzymes and sequence analysis revealed the presence of C. parvum bovine genotype in all isolates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that pre-weaned calves are likely to be an important reservoir of zoonotic C. parvum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohhammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Asadpour
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Razmi
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mohhammadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Abolghasen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Naghibi
keywords: Cryptosporidium; Genotypic characterization; Iran; Pre-weaned calves