Detection and genomic characterization of cryptosporidium parvum virus 1 (CSpV1): A potential biomarker for Cryptosporidium parvum detection in bovine calves.
Cryptosporidium parvum is a ubiquitous enteric parasite that infects a diverse range of vertebrate species. The detection of C. parvum can be confounded when oocysts are intermittently shed below an assay's limit of detection, yielding a false-negative result. We therefore investigated the utility of Cryptosporidium parvum virus 1 (CSpV1), a putative symbiont of Cryptosporidium parvum, as a surrogate target for detecting the parasite in bovine calves. Using real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), we tested 422 samples for Cryptosporidium spp., C. parvum-associated targets, and CSpV1. Among the 189 samples positive for at least one target, CSpV1 was detected in 24 (12.70%) samples without concurrent detection of Cryptosporidium. Additionally, we analyzed CSpV1 genomic sequences to ascertain its value as an epidemiological biomarker. Evaluation of dsRNA1 amino acid sequences identified country-associated patterns, suggesting potential utility for geographic distribution analyses. These findings suggest that CSpV1 may serve as a biological signature of C. parvum and support further investigation into its usefulness as an adjunct molecular target.