Molecular characterizations of Cryptosporidium spp. in brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) from an animal feedlot in Xinjiang, China

Abstract Cryptosporidiumspp. infection is common in rodents worldwide. In this study, 435 wild brown rats were captured from an animal feedlot in Xinjiang, China, and a fecal sample was collected directly from the rectal contents of each rat. The extracted DNA from all fecal samples was examined for Cryptosporidium spp. by PCR at SSU rRNA gene. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection in brown rats was 5.5% (24/435). The infection rates varied across different animal enclosures. Specifically, infection rates were 0% (0/51) in chicken coop, 0% (0/3) in cowshed, 6.1% (6/98) in sheepfold, 7.6% (10/132) in pigsty, 7.0% (5/71) in dovecote, and 3.8% (3/80) in outdoor environments. The study identified three species and one genotype of Cryptosporidium, including C. occultus (n = 10), C. parvum (n = 4), C. ditrichi (n = 1), and Cryptosporidium Rat genotype IV (n = 9). Of the C. parvum isolates, two were successfully subtyped as IIdA19G1 (n = 2) at the gp60 gene. These findings present fundamental data on the prevalence and genetic evolution of Cryptosporidium in rodents.