Cryptosporidium and Cryptosporidiosis: The Perspective from the Gulf Countries

Shahira A. Ahmed and Panagiotis Karanis
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Shahira A. Ahmed: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41522, Egypt
Panagiotis Karanis: Medical Faculty and University Hospital, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-34

Abstract: The present review discusses the burden of cryptosporidiosis in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is underreported and underestimated. It emphasizes that the Cryptosporidium parasite is infecting inhabitants and expatriates in the Gulf countries. Children under 5 years are a vulnerable group that is particularly affected by this parasitic disease and can act as carriers, who contribute to the epidemiology of the disease most probably via recreational swimming pools. Various risk factors for cryptosporidiosis in the GCC countries are present, including expatriates, predisposing populations to the infection. Water contamination, imported food, animal contact, and air transmission are also discussed in detail, to address their significant role as a source of infection and, thus, their impact on disease epidemiology in the Gulf countries’ populations.

Keywords: Cryptosporidium; prevalence; incidence; human; Arabic Gulf; animal; water; food; air (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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