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. 2022 Jan;121(1):345-354.
doi: 10.1007/s00436-021-07369-4. Epub 2021 Nov 24.

Cryptosporidium spp. in wild murids (Rodentia) from Corsica, France

Katherine García-Livia #  1   2 , Ángela Fernández-Álvarez #  1   3 , Carlos Feliu  4   5 , Jordi Miquel  4   5 , Yann Quilichini  3 , Pilar Foronda  6   7
Affiliations

Cryptosporidium spp. in wild murids (Rodentia) from Corsica, France

Katherine García-Livia et al. Parasitol Res. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

Cryptosporidium spp. are worldwide protozoan parasites that can affect to a broad range of vertebrate hosts, including rodents. In the island of Corsica (France), there are no previous data about these protozoa infecting wild rodents. To estimate the distribution and occurrence, a total of 117 wild murine rodents of the species Rattus rattus (84), Mus musculus domesticus (21), Apodemus sylvaticus (11), and Rattus norvegicus (1) were captured in 24 different biotopes. Fecal samples were screened for Cryptosporidium spp. by nested PCR to amplify an 830 bp fragment of the 18S rRNA gene. As general occurrence, 15.4% of the rodents analyzed were positive for Cryptosporidium spp., being detected widely distributed along the island in R. rattus (17.6%) and M. m. domesticus (14.3%). Cryptosporidium viatorum, Cryptosporidium sp. rat genotype II, and Cryptosporidium sp. rat genotype III were successfully identified in R. rattus. The results herein reported provide the first data on Cryptosporidium spp. in wild murine species from a Mediterranean island and constitute the first report of the zoonotic species C. viatorum in R. rattus. Although a low occurrence of Cryptosporidium spp. in murids was obtained and only in one animal the zoonotic species C. viatorum was identified, our results highlight that wild murine rodents from Corsica could mediate in the maintenance and transmission of this protozoan to the environment and other hosts including humans and animals. Further studies are required to better understand the epidemiology of Cryptosporidium spp. in wild rodents from Corsica and their possible public health repercussions.

Keywords: Apodemus sylvaticus; Corsica; Cryptosporidium viatorum; Mus musculus domesticus; Rattus norvegicus; Rattus rattus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Geographical location of Corsica (France) and map of the island showing the distribution of rodent sampling locations (numbers 1–24). The presence of Cryptosporidium spp. in wild rodents are represented in a black circle. (The original images were taken from d-maps (https://d-maps.com/carte.php?num_car=2801&lang=es, https://d-maps.com/carte.php?num_car=2233&lang=es) in which the original author authorized its free use for any purpose. Both images were edited by Paint 3D program)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Phylogenetic analysis using the neighbor-joining method with p-distance and 1000 bootstrap replications based on the 18S ribosomal RNA fragment (830 bp). Toxoplasma gondii was used as the outgroup
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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