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Molecular investigation of Cryptosporidium in farmed chickens in Hubei Province, China, identifies ‘zoonotic’ subtypes of C. meleagridis

Overview of attention for article published in Parasites & Vectors, August 2018
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Title
Molecular investigation of Cryptosporidium in farmed chickens in Hubei Province, China, identifies ‘zoonotic’ subtypes of C. meleagridis
Published in
Parasites & Vectors, August 2018
DOI 10.1186/s13071-018-3056-5
Pubmed ID
Authors

Cong Liao, Tao Wang, Anson V. Koehler, Yingying Fan, Min Hu, Robin B. Gasser

Abstract

Cryptosporidium is a key genus of parasitic protists that infect humans and other vertebrates (mammals and birds). Birds are typically infected with C. avium, C. baileyi, C. galli and/or C. meleagridis, the latter of which is recognised as being zoonotic. Stimulated by the previous finding of C. meleagridis subtypes IIIbA21G1R1, IIIbA22G1R1 and IIIbA26G1R1 in diarrhoeic children in Wuhan city and environs in Hubei Province, China, we performed a molecular epidemiological survey to explore whether these or similar subtypes might occur in farmed chickens in this province. PCR-coupled sequencing analyses of regions in the small subunit (SSU) of the nuclear ribosomal RNA and 60 kDa glycoprotein (gp60) genes were utilised to characterise Cryptosporidium in faecal samples from chickens (n = 471) from 14 farms from six distinct regions in Hubei Province. Cryptosporidium baileyi (33/471; 7.0%) and C. meleagridis (15/471; 3.2%) were identified in chickens on eight farms in five of the six distinct geographical regions. No significant age-associated difference in the prevalence of C. baileyi was evident, whereas the prevalence of C. meleagridis was significantly higher in younger (≤ 4 months) than in older chickens (> 4 months). For C. meleagridis, two subtype families, IIIb and IIIe, were defined; some of the subtypes (i.e. IIIbA26G1R1b and IIIbA22G1R1c) characterised here matched those identified previously in diarrhoeic children in Wuhan. This is the first molecular study reporting the genetic identity and prevalence of C. baileyi and C. meleagridis in chickens in Hubei. The findings suggest that C. meleagridis subtypes IIIbA26G1R1b and IIIbA22G1R1c are cross-transmissible between chickens and humans, raising awareness about the significance of birds as potential reservoirs of zoonotic variants of Cryptosporidium. Future studies might focus on investigating the prevalence of 'zoonotic' subtypes of Cryptosporidium meleagridis in various species of wild and domesticated birds, and on comparing them with those found in humans in China and other countries.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 33 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 33 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 5 15%
Student > Doctoral Student 4 12%
Researcher 3 9%
Student > Ph. D. Student 2 6%
Lecturer 1 3%
Other 3 9%
Unknown 15 45%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 4 12%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 3 9%
Immunology and Microbiology 3 9%
Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine 2 6%
Chemical Engineering 1 3%
Other 4 12%
Unknown 16 48%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 30 August 2018.
All research outputs
#18,648,325
of 23,102,082 outputs
Outputs from Parasites & Vectors
#4,276
of 5,523 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#257,504
of 335,220 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Parasites & Vectors
#88
of 117 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,102,082 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 11th percentile – i.e., 11% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,523 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.7. This one is in the 11th percentile – i.e., 11% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 117 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 9th percentile – i.e., 9% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.