Molecular Detection of Cryptosporidium spp. and Enterocytozoon bieneusi Infection in Wild Rodents From Six Provinces in China

( ) and spp. are the most important zoonotic enteric pathogens associated with diarrheal diseases in animals and humans. However, it is still not known whether and spp. are carried by wild rodents in Shanxi, Guangxi, Zhejiang, Shandong, and Inner Mongolia, China. In the present study, a total of 536 feces samples were collected from , , ( ) , and in six provinces of China, and were detected by PCR amplification of the SSU rRNA gene of spp. and ITS gene of from June 2017 to November 2020. Among 536 wild rodents, 62 (11.6%) and 18 (3.4%) samples were detected as - and spp.-positive, respectively. Differential prevalence rates of and spp. were found in different regions. was more prevalent in , whereas spp. was more frequently identified in . Sequence analysis indicated that three known species/genotypes ( , , and sp. rat genotype II/III) and two uncertain species ( sp. novel1 and sp. novel2) were present in the investigated wild rodents. Meanwhile, 5 known genotypes (XJP-II, EbpC, EbpA, D, and NCF7) and 11 novel genotypes (ZJR1 to ZJR7, GXM1, HLJC1, HLJC2, and SDR1) were also observed. This is the first report for existence of and spp. in wild rodents in Shanxi, Guangxi, Zhejiang, and Shandong, China. The present study also demonstrated the existence of and spp. in worldwide for the first time. This study not only provided the basic data for the distribution of and genotypes/species, but also expanded the host range of the two parasites. Moreover, the zoonotic and species/genotypes were identified in the present study, suggesting wild rodents are a potential source of human infections.