AUTHOR=Jia Ruilian , Wen Xi , Guo Yaqiong , Xiao Lihua , Feng Yaoyu , Li Na 

TITLE=Decline in Cryptosporidium Infection in Free-Ranging Rhesus Monkeys in a Park After Public Health Interventions

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2022.901766

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2022.901766

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<p>Nonhuman primates (NHPs) are considered an important source of parasitic zoonoses. A study in 2010 revealed high prevalence of <italic>Cryptosporidium</italic> spp. in free-ranging rhesus monkeys (<italic>Macaca mulatta</italic>) in a public park in Guiyang, southwestern China, which called for the control of disease in animals and long-term epidemiological tracking of <italic>Cryptosporidium</italic> spp. After the initiation of a series of public health interventions, we collected 2,402 fecal samples from monkeys and 123 water samples from lakes in the park on six occasions during 2013-2019. They were analyzed and genotyped for <italic>Cryptosporidium</italic> spp. using PCR and sequence analyses of the small subunit rRNA gene. The <italic>C. hominis</italic> and <italic>C. parvum</italic> identified were further subtyped by sequence analysis of the 60 kDa glycoprotein gene. Compared with the high prevalence of <italic>Cryptosporidium</italic> spp. in fecal samples (10.9% or 45/411) and water samples (47.8% or 11/23) in 2010, only 18 (0.7%) fecal samples and 3 (2.4%) water samples collected in the present study were positive for <italic>Cryptosporidium</italic> spp., including <italic>C. hominis</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 9) and <italic>C. parvum</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 12). The former belonged to the NHP-adapted IfA17G2R3 subtype, while the latter mostly belonged to rodent-adapted IIpA9. Therefore, the detection rate and genetic diversity of <italic>Cryptosporidium</italic> spp. during this study period were much lower than those before the public health interventions, and there was a switch from common occurrence of anthroponotic <italic>C. hominis</italic> subtypes to sporadic occurrence of NHP-adapted <italic>C. hominis</italic> and rodent-adapted <italic>C. parvum</italic> subtypes.</p>