Name: Sahar Abdel-Aleem Abdel-Aziz
Birth date: 1/9/1984
Degree: Philosophy Doctor
Address: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Beni-Suef University
Major Field: Zoonoses
            Title: A Study of the Epidemiologic Aspects of Cryptosporidiosis in Farm Animals
           		and Man
Abstract

 This study was performed in the period February 2012 through May 2014 to determine the role of farm animals in transmitting Cryptosporidium to man in Beni-Suef Governorate, Egypt. A total of 871 faecal specimens (565 cattle, 129 buffalo and 177 sheep). In addition to, 338 stool samples were obtained from rural (n=193) and urban (n=145) residents, 178 males and 160 females. All samples were subjected for microscopic examination that revealed an overall prevalence of 9.99%; 9.73% for cattle, 10.08% for buffalo and 10.73% for sheep. The infection rates were higher in animals aged 1-3 months (15.43%) than those aged >12 months (7.05%). The shedding rate of Cryptosporidium spp. was prominent in animals suffered diarrhea (15.0%) than the non-diarrheic ones (6.78%). Animals reared in farms reported higher prevalence (11.79%, 18.52% and 16.67% for cattle, buffalo and sheep, respectively) than those were in small-holders (8.5% for cattle, 4.0% for buffalo and 6.67% for sheep). The prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts among the examined cattle and buffalo in relation to water source was 12.73%, 8.62% and 10.19% in animals depending on ground, surface and tap water, respectively. The occurrence of Cryptosporidium infection in animals according to the season was not observed, where the overall prevalence of cryptosporidiosis was 10.77%, 10.38%, 9.45% and 9.3% in summer, spring, winter and autumn, respectively. Regarding humans, the overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection in humans was 26.63%. Infant < 5 years old exhibited a higher infection of Cryptosporidium spp. (28.0%), whereas individual in the age group 6-20 years and >20 year old showed nearly similar pattern of infection; 25.75 and 26.76%, respectively. Infection rate was 29.21% of males and 23.75% of females whereas it was 34.44% in diarrheic and 17.72% in non-diarrheic individuals. The percentage distribution of cryptosporidial infection was more or less similar in different year seasons; 27.27% in summer, 26.47% in autumn, 26.32% in spring and 26.25% in winter. ELISA exhibited lower sensitivity than MZN technique for detection of Cryptosporidium antigen in faeces. Nested PCR analysis confirmed the presence of Cryptosporidium spp. in 39 out of 135 samples that were positive for both MZN and ELISA. RFLP analysis of PCR products for the COWP gene using Rsa1 enzyme revealed the presence of only C. parvum in animal samples (n=12 in cattle, n=4 in buffalo and n=3 in sheep) whereas in human samples both C. hominis (n=15) and C. parvum (n=5) were identified. Sequencing analysis of the gp60 gene for C. parvum genotype from cattle, buffalo, sheep and humans identified IIdA20G1 as the only the subtype detected. It was concluded that farm animals, both clinically diseased and apparently healthy, play an important role as reservoirs for the spread of Cryptosporidium spp. of zoonotic significance. 
Keywords: Cryptosporidium- farm animals- Man- Faecal samples- PCP-RFLP-Sequencing- IIdA20G1 - Zoonotic significance