ABSTRACT
Objective To identify the prevalence of Cryptosporidium from goats in three types of farm management systems in Terengganu, Malaysia and to determine the Cryptosporidium species infecting goats by using 18S rRNA. Methods A total of 478 fecal samples were randomly collected from goats in three farms; 199 samples were collected from intensive farm, 179 samples from semi-intensive farm and 100 samples from extensive farm. The samples were processed by using formol-ether concentration technique and stained by using modified Ziehl–Neelsen. Positive samples were performed by using nested PCR analysis by using 18S rRNA. Results Out of 478 goats, 207 (43.3%) were found to be infected with Cryptosporidium. Goats reared under the intensive farm management system reported the highest prevalence of infection (49.7%), followed by intensive farm management system (41%) and the lowest prevalence was reported in the goats reared under semi-intensive management system (37.4%). Conclusions The identified species found in goat was Cryptosporidium parvum. Future study on the zoonotic transmission of Cryptosporidium parvum in goats needs to be done in order to find the source of transmission of this parasite.
ABSTRACT
Cryptosporidium, a protozoan parasite, can cause cryptosporidiosis which is a gastrointestinal disease that can infect humans and livestock. Cattle are the most common livestock that can be infected with this protozoan. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection in cattle in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia and to find out the association between the occurrence of infection and 3 different ages of cattle (calves less than 1 year, yearling, and adult cattle). The samples were processed by using formol-ether concentration technique and stained by modified Ziehl Neelsen. The results showed that 15.9% (24/151) of cattle were positive for Cryptosporidium oocysts. The occurrence of Cryptosporidium in calves less than 1 year was the highest with the percentage of 20.0% (11/55) followed by yearling and adult cattle, with the percentage occurrence of 15.6 % (7/45) and 11.8% (6/51), respectively. There was no significant association between the occurrence and age of cattle and presence of diarrhea. Good management practices and proper hygiene management must be taken in order to reduce the infection. It is highly important to control the infection since infected cattle may serve as potential reservoirs of the infection to other animals and humans, especially animal handlers.