First identification and coinfection detection of Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Encephalitozoon spp., Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis in diarrheic pigs in Southwest China

Ghebremichael, Samson Teweldeberhan; Meng, Xianzhi; Yang, Yujiao; Andegiorgish, Amanuel Kidane; Wu, Zongrun; Chen, Jie; Wei, Junhong; Li, Tian; Bao, Jialing; Zhou, Zeyang; Pan, Guoqing

doi:10.1186/s12866-023-03070-x

First identification and coinfection detection of Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Encephalitozoon spp., Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis in diarrheic pigs in Southwest China

Document detail

ID

doi:10.1186/s12866-023-03070-x...

Author

Ghebremichael, Samson Teweldeberhan Meng, Xianzhi Yang, Yujiao Andegiorgish, Amanuel Kidane Wu, Zongrun Chen, Jie Wei, Junhong Li, Tian Bao, Jialing Zhou, Zeyang Pan, Guoqing

Langue

Editor

BioMed Central

Year

2023

listing date

11/15/2023

Keywords

... spp. internal transcribed spacer (its) spp. ... diarrheic pigs coinfection prevalence chongqing parasites sichuan detected pigs duodenalis bieneusi hellem diarrheic cuniculi encephalitozoon

Metrics

Abstract

Background Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Encephalitozoon spp., Cryptosporidium spp., and Giardia duodenalis (G. intestinalis) are enteric pathogens that cause diarrhea in pigs.

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of these enteric parasites and their coinfection with E. bieneusi in diarrheic pigs in Southwest China (Chongqing and Sichuan) using nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) based methods.

Results A total of 514 fecal samples were collected from diarrheic pigs from 14 pig farms in Chongqing (five farms) and Sichuan (nine farms) Provinces.

The prevalence of Encephalitozoon spp., Cryptosporidium spp. and G. duodenalis was 16.14% (83/514), 0% (0/514), and 8.95% (46/514), respectively.

Nested PCR revealed 305 mono-infections of E. bieneusi , six of E. cuniculi , two of E. hellem , and nine of G. duodenalis and 106 concurrent infections of E. bieneusi with the other enteric pathogens.

No infections of E. intestinalis and Cryptosporidium species were detected.

The highest coinfection was detected between E. bieneusi and E. cuniculi (10.5%, 54/514), followed by E. bieneusi and G. duodenalis (5.8%, 30/514) and E. bieneusi and E. hellem (2.9%, 15/514).

E. bieneusi was the most frequently detected enteric pathogen, followed by E. cuniculi , G. duodenalis and E. hellem .

There was a significant age-related difference in the prevalence of E. cuniculi in fattening pigs (χ^2 = 15.266, df = 3, P = 0.002) and G. duodenalis in suckling pigs (χ^2 = 11.92, df = 3, P = 0.008) compared with the other age groups.

Sequence analysis of the ITS region of Encephalitozoon species showed two genotypes (II and III) for E. cuniculi and one (TURK1B) for E. hellem .

Only G. duodenalis assemblage A was identified in all nested PCR-positive samples.

E. bieneusi was found more often than other enteric pathogens.

Conclusions This study showed that E. bieneusi, Encephalitozoon spp. [ E. cuniculi and E. hellem ] and G. duodenalis were common enteric parasites in diarrheic pigs in Chongqing and Sichuan Provinces.

In case of both mono-infection and coinfection, E. bieneusi was the most common enteric pathogen in diarrheic pigs.

Thus, it may be a significant cause of diarrhea in pigs.

Precautions should be taken to prevent the spread of these enteric parasites.

Ghebremichael, Samson Teweldeberhan,Meng, Xianzhi,Yang, Yujiao,Andegiorgish, Amanuel Kidane,Wu, Zongrun,Chen, Jie,Wei, Junhong,Li, Tian,Bao, Jialing,Zhou, Zeyang,Pan, Guoqing, 2023, First identification and coinfection detection of Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Encephalitozoon spp., Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis in diarrheic pigs in Southwest China, BioMed Central