In this work, four fecal samples were collected from pre-weaned calves affected with diarrhea, those calves were reared in farm at Hama province, and the farm had suffered from this problem of diarrhea in its neonatal and pre-weaned calves.
Cryptosporidium infection were proved by detection of the oocysts with kinyoun acid fast stain, and nested-PCR test, which had been followed by RFLP analysis. Cryptosporidium parvum was the only species which found.
The oocysts were isolated and purified, and used in studying the isolated Cryptosporidium parvum infectivity in 5 weeks old Syrian golden hamsters, (5-7) weeks old rabbits, and in chicken embryonated eggs form broiler breeder flock and from rustic chicken.
Both hamsters and rabbits were divided into two groups, one group received dexamethasone sulfate to be immunosuppressed, and the other group didn’t receive any medication. Results showed that the parasite propagated and shed with hamster feces, but did not do in rabbits. The number of OPG (oocysts per gram) in hamsters feces was significantly higher in immunosuppressed group than the intact one (p<0.01).
Reproduction of cryptosporidium also happened in all inoculated eggs inside chorioallantoic sac. And the number of oocysts which existed in the harvested chorioallantoic fluid after 7 days of infection was significantly higher in broiler breeder eggs than the rustic chicken eggs (p<0.01).
This work is the first in Syria which depended on RFLP analysis for identifying cryptosporidium species, and its result confirmed presence of Cryptosporidium parvum . five weeks old immunosuppressed hamster was the most appropriate animal model in the study, and may utilized in future studies targeting this parasite.
Al-Baath University Journal.
2015.
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