Prevalence and genotyping of Cryptosporidium SPP from dairy cow fecal samples in western Thailand

The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp in dairy cows in central Thailand and to investigate the genotype of Cryptosporidium spp in this population. A total of 200 fecal samples from dairy cows were collected and examined by the acid-fast staining technique and polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection in dairy cows was 7% (95% CI 3.5-10.5) by acid-fast staining, and 15.5% (95% CI 10.5-20.5) by PCR-RFLP. This is the first report of genetic identification of the C. parvum bovine genotype in dairy cows in Thailand. PCR-RFLP analysis showed all positive samples were C. parvum (bovine genotype). C. andersoni was not found in this study. The only significant risk factor for Cryptosporidium infection in dairy cows was age. Calves less than 2 months old were more frequently infected by Cryptosporidium than others (OR 13.82, 95% CI 3.67-51.97, p = 0.001). Cattle may be a potential source of human cryptosporidiosis

Prevalence of Trypanosoma evansi Infection Causing Abortion in Dairy Cows in Central Thailand

ABSTRACT Abortion in dairy cows is the major factor affecting livestock development in Thailand and is caused by many diseases. Trypanosomosis is one of these factors and also results in an immunosuppressive effect in cattle. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of trypanosomosis in dairy cows in central Thailand. From March to September 2007, 544 samples were collected from 105 farms in the five major dairy provinces of Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Saraburi and Lop Buri. ELISA was performed to test all sera. The overall prevalence of T. evansi infection in dairy cows was 8.1% (44/544) and herd prevalence was 19.2% (20/105). The highest individual prevalence was found at Saraburi (17.4%, 21/121) but the highest number of herd infections was at Nakhon Pathom (30%, 6/ 20). The parity-four and four-plus cows were 3.7 times more likely to be infected than heifers and parity-one cows (P<0.034). Large herds (40 milking cows) were found to be 5.4 times more infected than small herds (P<0.021). The results found that trypanosome infection might be the predisposing cause of other diseases and is a barrier to productivity gains in dairy herds