Diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis in pet animals using real time polimerase chain reaction

• Grant number: 11/08814-1
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: August 01, 2011
• End date: July 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Vasconcelos Meireles
• Grantee: Marcelo Vasconcelos Meireles
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FMVA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araçatuba. Araçatuba , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Caris Maroni Nunes ; Katia Denise Saraiva Bresciani

Abstract

The infection with some species or genotypes of Cryptosporidium represents a significant risk to public health, mainly because of morbidity and mortality in children aged zero to five years old and in immunosuppressed patients. Although there are some reports of Cryptosporidium infection in dogs, cats, rodents and lagomorphs, the role of these animals in the epidemiology of human cryptosporidiosis remains uncertain, and the literature on this topic is still rather scarce. Cryptosporidium canis and Cryptosporidium felis infect humans, besides their natural hosts, respectively dogs and cats. Cryptosporidium cuniculus, a parasite of rabbits, was recently described as a zoonotic agent. The aim of this study is to detect and determine the Cryptosporidium species and genotypes in fecal samples from dogs, cats, rodents and lagomorphs raised as pets. A total of 900 fecal samples will be collected from dogs, cats, rodents and lagomorphs, of different ages, according to availability, from commercial breeders, pet shops, veterinary clinics and at residencies, in the cities of Araçatuba and São Paulo. The determination of the species or genotype of the parasite in rodents and lagomorphs will be carried out using qPCR (method already standardized) to amplify fragments of the 18S subunit of the ribosomal RNA of Cryptosporidium spp., followed by sequencing of amplified fragments. Two qPCR protocols for amplification of fragments of the actin gene, that will be standardized in this research, will be used for the specific detection C. canis e de C. felis. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

M. S. DE SOUZA; B. R. VIEIRA; H. G. RIVA; C. G. HOMEM; D. C. DA SILVA; A. A. NAKAMURA; M. V. MEIRELES. Ocorrência de Cryptosporidium spp. em animais exóticos de companhia no Brasil. Arquivo Brasileiro de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, v. 67, n. 5, p. 1321-1326, 2015-10-00. (11/08814-1)

HOMEM, CAMILA GUARIZ; DO NASCIMENTO, ISABELA GARCIA; SANTANA, BRUNA NICOLETI; MEIRELES, MARCELO VASCONCELOS. Development of a real-time PCR assay for detection of Cryptosporidium canis in dog fecal samples. VETERINARY PARASITOLOGY- REGIONAL STUDIES AND REPORTS, v. 18, p. 5-pg., 2019-12-01. (11/09614-6, 11/08814-1)