ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Parasitology
This article is part of the Research TopicPhylogenetic insights into apicomplexan parasites of veterinary and wild life importance: Advancing sustainable livestock managementView all 7 articles
Influence of Cryptosporidium and Rotavirus Co-infection on Infectivity in Calves
Provisionally accepted
Fumi Murakoshi1
Megumi Itoh2
Rofaida Mostafa Soliman3
Tatsunori Masatani4Kenichi Shibano5Takaaki Nakaya6
Kentaro Kato7*- 1Tokyo Noko Daigaku, Fuchu, Japan
- 2Obihiro Chikusan Daigaku, Obihiro, Japan
- 3Damanhour University, Damanhour, Egypt
- 4Gifu Daigaku, Gifu, Japan
- 5Okayama Rika Daigaku, Okayama, Japan
- 6Kyoto Furitsu Ika Daigaku, Kyoto, Japan
- 7Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
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Rotavirus A (RVA; species Rotavirus alphagastroenteritidis) and Cryptosporidium spp. are major enteric pathogens in infants and neonatal calves, causing severe diarrhea that can lead to fatal outcomes. These pathogens thus pose challenges in both public health and the livestock industries. Although co-infections are common, their pathogenesis remains poorly understood. Here, we conducted a longitudinal investigation in naturally infected calves to assess the impact of co-infection with rotavirus and Cryptosporidium. Infection status was determined based on daily fecal antigen testing and oocyst per gram (OPG) counts from birth to 22 days of age. Based on these criteria, seven calves were classified as having Cryptosporidium mono-infection and three calves as having mixed infection. We found that subclinical infection with bovine rotavirus significantly shortened the duration of diarrhea caused by Cryptosporidium parvum in calves and reduced initial oocyst shedding. Furthermore, in vitro experiments using the bovine intestinal epitheliocyte (BIE) cell line demonstrated that the BRV Lincoln strain (G6, P[1]) non-structural protein 4 (NSP4) inhibits C. parvum infection, possibly by interfering with the host sodium-glucose co-transporter 1 (SGLT1). Our study highlights a potential novel strategy for controlling both BRV and C. parvum by exploiting their interactions during co-infection.
Keywords: Bovine rotavirus, Cattle, Co-infection, Cryptosporidium parvum, Enteric infection
Received: 29 Sep 2025; Accepted: 22 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Murakoshi, Itoh, Soliman, Masatani, Shibano, Nakaya and Kato. 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: Kentaro Kato
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