| Summary: | Between October 2013 and May 2016, 506 scat samples were collected from 22 species of wildlife located in a protected watershed of a major municipal water supply in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Overall prevalence of <i>Cryptosporidium</i> in the wildlife scat was 13.8% (70/506), with 15 species of wildlife found positive for <i>Cryptosporidium</i>. Prevalence of <i>Cryptosporidium</i> varied among species of wildlife, with higher prevalences observed in cougars (50.0%), mountain beavers (40.0%), and bobcats (33.3%), but none of these species are riparian-dependent. Genotyping of <i>Cryptosporidium</i> by sequencing PCR amplicons from the 18S rRNA gene were successful for seven species of wildlife, including bobcat, unknown predator, black-tailed deer, deer mouse, snowshoe hare, mountain beaver, and western spotted skunk. BLAST and phylogenetic analyses indicated that multiple species and genotypes of <i>Cryptosporidium</i> were present, with some isolates possibly co-circulating within and between wildlife populations in this protected watershed. Evidence of oocyst exchange between infected prey and their predators was also found. During the study period, several zoonotic <i>Cryptosporidium</i> species and genotypes that are uncommon in humans were detected in bobcat (99.58% identical to <i>Cryptosporidium felis</i>), unknown predator (100% identical to <i>Cryptosporidium canis</i>), snowshoe hare (100% identical to <i>Cryptosporidium</i> sp. skunk genotype), and mountain beaver (100% identical to <i>Cryptosporidium ubiquitum</i>). Novel sequences were also found in mountain beaver. To our knowledge, this is the first published report of a unique genotype or species of <i>Cryptosporidium</i> in mountain beaver (<i>Aplodontia rufa</i>).
|
|---|
