Cryptosporidium ubiquitum, C. muris and Cryptosporidium deer genotype in wild cervids and caprines in the Czech Republic

A total of 269 faecal samples of various game animals, including 136 red deer (Cervus elaphus Linnaeus), 64 European fallow deer (Dama dama [Linnaeus]), 26 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus [Zimmermann]), and 43 mouflon sheep (Ovis orientalis musimon Pallas) were collected at 15 game preserves across the Czech Republic and examined for infection with species of Cryptosporidium Tyzzer, 1910 using microscopy (following aniline-carbol-methyl violet staining) and molecular tools. Oocysts of Cryptosporidium spp. were detected in one faecal sample originating from red deer. Ten positive cases of infection with cryptosporidia, including the case that was positive by microscopy, were detected using nested PCR. No associations between infection with cryptosporidia and diarrhoea were detected. Phylogenetic analyses based on the small subunit of the rRNA gene revealed the presence of three Cryptosporidium species/genotypes in ten positive samples: Cryptosporidium ubiquitum Fayer, Santin et Macarisin, 2010 was identified in five red deer, C. muris Tyzzer, 1907 in three samples (from a red deer, white-tailed deer and mouflon sheep), and Cryptosporidium deer genotype in two white-tailed deer. Subtyping of isolates of C. ubiquitum based on sequence analysis of the 60-kDa glycoprotein gene revealed that they belong to the XIId family. Finding C. muris and C. ubiquitum XIId for the first time in various wild cervids and caprines broadens their host range.