Molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium isolates from beef calves under one month of age over three successive years in one herd in western France.

Cohorts of pre-weaned calves were studied for Cryptosporidium infection over three successive years (2010-2012) in one beef cattle herd in western France. Each year 25-34 calves were sampled weekly from 3 days to one month of age in order to characterize oocyst output, Cryptosporidium species and clinical features associated with infection. Faecal samples were screened for the presence of oocysts using immunofluorescence analysis.

Molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium isolates from pre-weaned calves in western France in relation to age.

Eighteen pre-weaned female calves from a single beef cattle herd in western France were sampled weekly from birth to 21/2 months of age in order to characterize Cryptosporidium oocyst output. 182 fecal samples were screened for the presence of oocysts after concentration using immunofluorescence analysis. DNA was extracted from positive samples and a PCR-RFLP protocol, with the restriction enzyme SspI and MboII, to amplify the partial SSU rRNA gene was performed.

Molecular characterization of Cryptosporidium spp. in pre-weaned kids in a dairy goat farm in western France.

A longitudinal study was undertaken to characterize the course of Cryptosporidium infection in a dairy goat farm located in western France. Two cohorts of twenty-five and fifteen animals, respectively, were sampled once a week from birth to weaning. Each individual fecal sample was screened using direct immunofluorescence (IFT) and if found positive, the Cryptosporidium species was identified using PCR analysis.

Eimeripain, a cathepsin B-like cysteine protease, expressed throughout sporulation of the apicomplexan parasite Eimeria tenella.

The invasion and replication of Eimeria tenella in the chicken intestine is responsible for avian coccidiosis, a disease that has major economic impacts on poultry industries worldwide. E. tenella is transmitted to naïve animals via shed unsporulated oocysts that need contact with air and humidity to form the infectious sporulated oocysts, which contain the first invasive form of the parasite, the sporozoite.