Contemporary identification of previously reported novel Cryptosporidium isolates reveals Cryptosporidium bovis and the cervine genotype in sheep (Ovis aries)

Molecular characterisation of Cryptosporidium spp. from sheep (Ovis aries), sampled during the investigation of a waterborne outbreak of human cryptosporidiosis caused by Cryptosporidium parvum, previously established that the sheep were not the source of infection. At the time, a novel Cryptosporidium genotype was identified at the Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein locus in 26 isolates and a further ten isolates amplified with heat shock protein primers but remained unidentified. Subsequent investigation of small subunit ribosomal DNA has revealed that 22 samples contained Cryptosporidium cervine genotype, five contained Cryptosporidium bovis and four samples contained both the cervine genotype and C. bovis.