Cryptosporidium Animal Species in Iran: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background: Cryptosporidiosis is an acute and short-term infection which can lead to severe diarrhea (intestinal cryptosporidiosis) associated with a persistent cough in the host with immune system defect. This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the prevalence of animal Cryptosporidium species and the corresponding epidemiological aspects in Iran.

Methods: In this study, all original research articles relating to the animal cryptosporidiosis in Iran were collected from reliable databases using keywords. A meta-analysis was conducted separately for each subgroup, and heterogeneity among the studies was performed using the Q and I tests. Furthermore, it should be noticed that the significance level in the statistical analysis with the Comprehensive Meta-analysis software was considered to be less than 0.05. Finally, meta-analysis results were shown in forest plot with a 95% CI.

Results: In total, 4795 studies were included in the initial screening. Duplicated or non-original studies and the ones which did not meet our considered criteria were excluded from the list. Out of the 100 articles included in our first list for the meta-analysis, 40, 16, 13, 10, 9, 7, and 5 were done on cattle and calves, birds, dogs, sheep, rodents, camels, and horses, respectively. The prevalence rate of cryptosporidiosis among the birds, horses, rodents, camels, dogs, cattle, and sheep in Iran was estimated to be 7.5%, 19.5%, 20.8%, 8.4%, 4.9%, 14.4%, and 9.1%, respectively.

Conclusion: The different Cryptosporidium species have been found in different regions of Iran. Geographical region, climate, and domestic animals are considered as factors responsible for animal cryptosporidiosis prevalence in the area. Moreover, this parasite is zoonotic which causes disease in animals as well as humans which can result in economic loss.