Prevalence of the Cryptosporidium Pig Genotype II in Pigs from the Yangtze River Delta, China

BACKGROUND: Cryptosporidium spp. is prevalent globally, pigs are an important Cryptosporidium reservoir. In China, little data regarding rates of Cryptosporidium infections in pigs are available. The present study was therefore aimed at characterizing the distribution of Cryptosporidium species in pigs from two different cities, Shaoxing and Shanghai, from the Yangtze River delta. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Nested PCR to amplify the 18S rRNA locus on DNA extracted from fecal samples (n = 94) revealed the positive rate of Cryptosporidium in pigs from two cities was approximately 17.0%. The positive rates in Shanghai and Shaoxing were 14.3% and 25.0% respectively. Amplified sequences were verified by sequencing. The identified strain belonged to the C. pig genotype II using BLAST analysis in the NCBI database. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Our finding of Cryptosporidium pig genotype II in pigs in the Yangtze River delta area suggests that pig farms in this region must be considered a public health threat and proper control measures be introduced.