Cryptosporidium cuniculus, UK, 2007–2008 | CDC EID

EID Journal Home > Volume 17, Number 3–March 2011

Volume 17, Number 3–March 2011
Dispatch
Sporadic Human Cryptosporidiosis Caused by Cryptosporidium cuniculus, United Kingdom, 2007–2008
Rachel M. Chalmers, Kristin Elwin, Stephen J. Hadfield, and Guy Robinson
Author affiliations: Public Health Wales Microbiology–Singleton Hospital, Swansea, UK


Suggested citation for this article

Abstract
To investigate sporadic human cryptosporidiosis trends in the United Kingdom, we tested 3,030 Cryptosporidium spp.–positive fecal samples, submitted for routine typing in 2007–2008, for C. cuniculus. C. cuniculus prevalence was 1.2%; cases were mostly indigenous and occurred across all age groups. Most occurred during August–October and may be linked to exposure opportunities.


The protozoan parasites Cryptosporidium spp. are major causes of gastrointestinal disease worldwide. Most cases in the United Kingdom are caused by C. parvum or C. hominis; rare infections with other species and genotypes include C. meleagridis, C. felis, C. canis, C. ubiquitum, C. hominis monkey, skunk, horse, and rabbit (1–3). In summer 2008, the rabbit genotype caused a waterborne outbreak in drinking water (4). Previously, only 1 human infection, also identified in the United Kingdom, was known (1), although routine typing based on RsaI restriction fragment-length polymorphisms (RFLPs) within the Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein (COWP) gene (2) does not differentiate the rabbit genotype from C. hominis (4). After phylogenetic and biologic investigations, the rabbit genotype has been renamed C. cuniculus (5). However, information is lacking about the occurrence and epidemiology of animal and human infections outside the outbreak, which mainly involved adult females (5–7). To investigate trends in humans, we conducted enhanced testing of Cryptosporidium spp.–positive fecal samples from patients with sporadic diarrhea (submitted for routine typing during 2007–2008) with the purpose of identifying and characterizing C. cuniculus.


full-text:
Cryptosporidium cuniculus, UK, 2007–2008 | CDC EID


Suggested Citation for this Article
Chalmers RM, Elwin K, Hadfield, Robinson G. Sporadic human cryptosporidiosis caused by Cryptosporidium cuniculus, United Kingdom, 2007–2008. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2011 Mar [date cited]. http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/17/3/536.htm


DOI: 10.3201/eid1703.100410


Comments to the Authors
Please use the form below to submit correspondence to the authors or contact them at the following address:

Rachel M. Chalmers, UK Cryptosporidium Reference Unit, Public Health Wales Microbiology, Singleton Hospital, Swansea, Wales, SA2 8QA UK; email: rachel.chalmers@wales.nhs.uk