Vol. 10, Special Issue 10 (2021)

Author(s):
Sateesh AG, Patil NA, Vivek R Kasaralikar, Dilipkumar D, Basavaraj Awati, Ravindra BG and Shrikant Kulkarni

Abstract:
Cryptosporidium protozoal infection had major impact on human and animal health implications causing severe gastroenteritis with episodes of diarrhea. A total of 50 diarrhoic calves were screened for the cryptosporidiosis at various farms in and around Bidar. The calves were aged 6 days to 6 months. The fecal samples collected were subjected to direct microscopical examinations, mZN staining and safranin staining technique and molecular diagnosis for confirmation. Direct microscopic examination revealed prevalence of 4.00 per cent under (1000x) oil immersion. Prevalence of 18.00 per cent and 16.00 per cent was noticed in mZN and safranin staining techniques respectively. The nested PCR study stated prevalence of 43.33 per cent positivity in 30 fecal samples. Out of 13 samples tested 7 were tested positive for Cryptosporidium parvum by immuno-chromatoghapy test based kits (DipFit^TM, BioX Diagnostics, Belgium). Haematological study reveled that there was no significant difference observed in values of total erythrocyte count and haemoglobin concentration when compared to healthy control calves. However, there was marginal significant (P<0.05) increase in the haematocrit values in study group when compared with healthy control groups indicating moderate dehydration. Total leucocyte count was significantly (P<0.05) increased in the affected calves when compared with healthy control calves due to secondary bacterial infections. In erythrocyte indices, the values of MCH and MCHC were significantly (P<0.05) decreased in study groups when compared to healthy control calves. Adoption of standardized techniques to identify the organism where possible, for diagnosis and typing would allow better correlations between animal, human, and environmental data at national and international levels as it has zoonotic implications.