ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Parasitology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1613342
Prevalence and zoonotic potential of Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Giardia duodenalis in dairy cattle in Anhui, China
Provisionally accepted
- Fuyang Normal University, Fuyang, China
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Introduction: Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Giardia duodenalis are common intestinal pathogens in humans and farmed animals. There is a limited data available on the positive rates and genetic identity of Enterocytozoon E. bieneusi and Giardia G. duodenalis in dairy cattle in Anhui, China. Methods: To understand the transmission of E. bieneusi and G. duodenalis in these animalsIn this study, a total of 1,043 faecal samples were collected from cattle on five farms (Fuyang, Huainan, Huaibei, Bengbu, and Jieshou) in the Anhui province of China between May 2023 and August 2024. The G. duodenalis in fecal samples was detected by nested PCR targeting a 511-bp fragment of the β-giardin (bg) gene, 599-bp fragment of the glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh) gene, and a 530-bp fragment of the triosephosphate isomerase (tpi) gene. The E. bieneusi was detected by nested PCR targeting a 392-bp fragment of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of the rRNA gene. Results: The PCR analysis revealed the positive rates of E. bieneusi and G. duodenalis from five farms was 29.7% (310/1043) and 2.8% (29/1043), respectively. The cattle from Bengbu farm had significantly higher positive rates of E. bieneusi than Fuyang, Huainan, and Huaibei citiesfarms (χ2 = 61.6, df = 1, P < 0.0001; χ2 = 76.4, df = 1, P < 0.0001; χ2 = 20.6, df = 1, P < 0.0001). A total of 11 known genotypes of E. bieneusi have been identified, including J (n = 154), BEB4 (n = 76), I (n = 63), CGC1 (n = 8), N (n = 2), BEB8 (n = 2), ALP1 (n = 1), BLC13 (n = 1), CHC13 (n = 1), CHN6 (n = 1), and D (n = 1), and 2 G. duodenalisknown genotypes have been identified, including assemblage A (n = 6) and assemblage E (n = 23). Discussion: The results indicate that known zoonotic E. bieneusi and G. duodenalis are prevalent in dairy cattle, thereby expanding our understanding of the genetic diversity and transmission of these pathogens in these animals.
Keywords: Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Giardia duodenalis, dairy cattle, zoonosis, China
Received: 17 Apr 2025; Accepted: 15 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Cheng, He, Meng, Wang, Shao, Xu and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Gaoxiao Xu, Fuyang Normal University, Fuyang, China
Huilin Zhang, Fuyang Normal University, Fuyang, China
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