Folia Parasitologica 69:015 (2022) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2022.015

Intestinal parasites of buffalo calves from Romania: molecular characterisation of Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis, and the first report of Eimeria bareillyi

Diana Ancuța Bărburaș ORCID...^{1, 6, 7}, Vasile Cozma^{1, 6}, Angela Monica Ionică^{1, 2, 6}, Ibrahim Abbas^{3, 6}, Remus Bărburaș⁴, Viorica Mircean¹, Gianluca D'Amico¹, Jitender P. Dubey⁵, Adriana Györke ORCID...^{1, 6, 7}

¹ Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania;

² CDS-9, Life Science Institute, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania;

³ Parasitology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt;

⁴ S.C. Medivet Bărburaș S.R.L, Românași, Sălaj, Romania;

⁵ United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Disease Laboratory, Beltsville, USA

⁶ These authors contributed equally to the work

⁷ Corresponding author

Buffaloes represent an important economic resource for several regions of the world including Romania. In the present study, we examined 104 faecal samples collected from 38 buffalo calves (2-11 weeks old) from household rearing systems in Romania for gastrointestinal parasites. All samples were tested using the saturated salt flotation, McMaster and modified Ziehl-Nielsen staining methods. PCR coupled with sequencing isolates were used to identify assemblages of Giardia lamblia (Kunstler, 1882) and species of Cryptosporidium Tyzzer, 1907. Overall, 33 out of 38 examined buffalo calves were infected with different gastrointestinal parasites: 16 had single infections and 17 had mixed infections with two or three parasites. Species of Eimeria Schneider, 1875 (32/38; 84%) were the most prevalent parasites; eight species were identified according to the oocyst morphology, including the pathogenic E. bareillyi (Gill, Chhabra et Lall, 1963) which was detected for the first time in buffaloes from Romania. The nematodes Toxocara vitulorum (Goeze, 1782) (11/38; 37%) and Strongyloides papillosus (Wedl, 1856) (6/38; 16%) were also detected. Cryptosporidium spp. were found in four (11%) buffalo calves; two of them were molecularly identified as C. ryanae Fayer, Santin et Trout, 2008, and another one clustered in the same clade with C. ryanae, C. bovis Fayer, Santin et Xiao, 2005, and C. xiaoi Fayer et Santin, 2009. Giardia duodenalis assemblage E was also molecularly detected in a single (2.6%) buffalo calf. The presence of other buffaloes in the same barn was identified as a risk factor for infection with T. vitulorum. Our results indicate extensive parasitic infections in buffalo calves from northwestern Romania and underline the necessity of prophylactic treatments for T. vitulorum and E. bareillyi.

Keywords: buffaloes, parasites, Toxocara vitulorum, Eimeria bareillyi, Cryptosporidium, Giardia

Received: May 10, 2021; Revised: January 3, 2022; Accepted: March 12, 2022; Published online: August 8, 2022  Show citation