Cryptosporidium parvum Genotype 2 infections in free-ranging mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei) of the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda

For behavioral research and due to growing ecotourism, some populations of free-ranging mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei) have become habituated to humans. Molecular analysis of two Cryptosporidium sp. oocyst isolates originating from two human-habituated gorilla groups and two oocyst isolates from non-habituated gorillas yielded positive identification of C. parvum Genotype 2 (G2; i.e., cattle, animal-adapted, or zoonotic). As G2 is cross-transmissible between humans and animals, C. parvum infections can be propagated in the habitats of human-habituated, ti-ee-ranging gorillas through both zoonotic and anthroponotic transmission cycles.