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Genotyping of Cryptosporidium spp. isolated from human stool samples in Switzerland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2003

R. FRETZ ,
P. SVOBODA ,
U. M. RYAN ,
R. C. A. THOMPSON ,
M. TANNER  and
A. BAUMGARTNER
R. FRETZ
Affiliation:
Cantonal Laboratory Basel-Landschaft, 4410 Liestal, Switzerland Swiss Tropical Institute, 4002 Basel, Switzerland
P. SVOBODA
Affiliation:
Cantonal Laboratory Basel-Landschaft, 4410 Liestal, Switzerland
U. M. RYAN
Affiliation:
WHO Collaborating Centre for the Molecular Epidemiology of Parasitic Infections and State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, Division of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Murdoch University, Western Australia 6150, Australia
R. C. A. THOMPSON
Affiliation:
WHO Collaborating Centre for the Molecular Epidemiology of Parasitic Infections and State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, Division of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Murdoch University, Western Australia 6150, Australia
M. TANNER
Affiliation:
Swiss Tropical Institute, 4002 Basel, Switzerland
A. BAUMGARTNER
Affiliation:
Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, 3003 Bern, Switzerland
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Abstract

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In a study to estimate the frequency of Cryptosporidium infections in Switzerland, stool samples from patients found to be positive for Cryptosporidium spp. by modified Ziehl–Neelson staining and fluorescence microscopy were used for genotyping experiments. With 9 of 12 samples, DNA extraction and subsequent genotyping was successful. All Cryptosporidium-isolates belonged to the bovine genotype. In one stool sample, two strains of Cryptosporidium were demonstrated, suggesting a mixed infection. In comparison with reference strains from calves, one of the isolates showed a full sequence identity and the other a similarity of 97·5%. The fact that only bovine genotypes were detected suggests, that cryptosporidiosis must primarily be considered as a zoonotic disease in Switzerland. This is in contrast to other countries, where the human genotype of C. parvum was shown to dominate the epidemiological situation. The results of our study are supported by the previous finding, that two of the analysed strains originated from patients who used to consume raw milk or raw cream, a known risk factor for cryptosporidiosis.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 131 , Issue 1 , August 2003 , pp. 663 - 667
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press