Wild sympatric rodents inhabiting pig farm environments may facilitate the spillover of Enterocytozoon bieneusi from pig farms.

Abstract

Enterocytozoon bieneusi is a zoonotic pathogen prevalent in mammalian and avian hosts across the globe. Wild small mammals, being abundant worldwide, serve as important sources of zoonotic disease transmission to humans. Here, 227 fecal samples were collected from five rodent and shrew species on 34 pig farms in China to investigate the prevalence and molecular characterization of E. bieneusi. The overall prevalence of E. bieneusi was 17.18% (39/227), with a distribution of 23.53% (32/136) in Rattus tanezumi, 8.62% (5/58) in Rattus norvegicus, and 8.00% (2/25) in Mus musculus. Eight E. bieneusi genotypes were identified, comprising four known genotypes: D (n = 8), EbpC (n = 8), PigEBITS7 (n = 9), and EbpA (n = 2), and four novel genotypes: CHPR1 (n = 7), CHPR2 (n = 1), CHPR3 (n = 2), and CHPR4 (n = 2). This study is the first to report E. bieneusi in rodents from pig farms in Henan, Shaanxi, and Shanxi Provinces in China. The host range of genotype EbpC was expanded with its first detection in M. musculus and R. tanezumi. All identified E. bieneusi genotypes belong to group 1, raising concerns about these sympatric rodents being reservoirs of zoonotic transmission. Moreover, the widespread distribution of genotype EbpC suggests potential cross-species transmission between sympatric rodents and domestic pigs. Our findings highlight the potential role of sympatric rodents in facilitating the spillover of E. bieneusi from pig farms, which could pose a potential public health threat.