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REVIEW article

Front. Parasitol.
Sec. Antiparasitic Drugs and Drug Resistance
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpara.2024.1448076

Understanding the Cryptosporidium species and their challenges to animal health and livestock species for informed development of new, specific treatment strategies

Provisionally accepted
Hannah Rideout Hannah Rideout 1,2,3Alasdair J. Cook Alasdair J. Cook 1,3Anthony D. Whetton Anthony D. Whetton 1,2,3,4*
  • 1 University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
  • 2 Veterinary Health Innovation Engine, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University. of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
  • 3 School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, England, United Kingdom
  • 4 School of Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, England, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Cryptosporidium species are parasitic organisms of vertebrates with a worldwide distribution. They have an important impact globally upon human and animal health, and livestock productivity. The life cycle of these species is complex and difficult to disrupt to improve human health, animal health, food security and economic growth. This may contribute to the fact that no new treatment strategy has been widely accepted or applied in livestock for years. Here we consider the natural history of these parasites, their biochemistry and economic impact. Using recent developments in understanding these parasites we then consider viable and affordable approaches to enhancing control of their effects on livestock. These are based on advances in drug discovery, omics research and artificial intelligence applications to human and veterinary medicine that indicate putative new therapeutic approaches.Cryptosporidium are protozoan pathogens that result in the enteric disease cryptosporidiosis (Helmy, Y. and Hafez, 2022). Previously they were classified as coccidia and considered to be intracellular parasites. However, recent research states they are members of a new class named cryptogregaria. In evolutionary terms this lies between coccidia and gregarine (Cavalier-Smith, 2014). Features that set them apart from coccidia include intracellular and extra-cytoplasmic localisation, feeder organ formation, presence of morphological oocysts, smaller oocysts, absence of sporocysts or micropyles, and, importantly, resistance to all available anti-coccidial drugs (Hijjawi et al., 2002)(Smith and Corcoran, 2004)(Helmy, Y. and Hafez, 2022). The re-classification has not been challenged since its publication meaning Cryptosporidium is now officially gregarine (Ryan et al., 2016). Gregarines are single-celled apicomplexan parasites that primarily infect the intestines of invertebrates and lower vertebrates (Leander,

    Keywords: Cryptosporidium1, treatment strategies2, livestock3, Animal Health4, parasite challenges5

    Received: 12 Jun 2024; Accepted: 17 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Rideout, Cook and Whetton. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Anthony D. Whetton, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.