Date of Award

Spring 2026

Language

English

Embargo Period

4-29-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Environmental Health Sciences

Program

Environmental Health Sciences

First Advisor

Susan Madison-Antenucci

Committee Members

David O. Carpenter, Ramune Reliene, William Wolfgang, Pauline Wanjugi

Keywords

Cryptosporidium, parasite, New York State

Subject Categories

Environmental Public Health

Abstract

The knowledge regarding Cryptosporidium infections in New York State (NYS) is severely lacking in two ways: 1) there are currently no NYS-based data regarding the subtypes of Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium hominis, which are the two most prevalent species that infect humans and 2) information regarding uncommon Cryptosporidium species that infect the New York population is also unavailable. Filling these gaps concerning this pathogenic parasite would provide a substantial amount of information when considering public health, outbreak investigations, and prevention measures. Therefore, improving Cryptosporidium subtype and species surveillance in NYS will aid in prevention and control efforts as well as benefit outbreak investigations.

The data generated during this study supports the understanding of which Cryptosporidium hominis subtypes are dominant in the United States (US). However, we have also uncovered uncommon subtypes and subtypes that are typically associated only with travel even when travel had not been reported. These data highlight the need for subtype analysis and suggest importance in determining dominant and rare subtypes within the NYS population. Additional data includes an increase in uncommon infection sources such as Cryptosporidium mortiferum, the predominant host being a chipmunk. By exploring this phenomenon, additional sources of cryptosporidiosis that are of public health importance were identified.

The aims of this dissertation are based on the apparent need for increased surveillance that will broaden the understanding of Cryptosporidium in NYS. The objectives were 1) Determine subtypes of C. parvum and C. hominis in NYS clinical infections, 2) Reveal Cryptosporidium species other than C. parvum and C. hominis infecting humans in NYS, and 3) Use targeted Next Generation Sequencing (tNGS) to show that detection of within-host co-infections of Cryptosporidium spp. is possible thereby further enhancing knowledge regarding Cryptosporidium population structure within a host.

Collectively, this dissertation has created a novel data set concerning C. parvum and C. hominis subtypes in NYS which will be accessible to public health workers to serve as a resource for outbreak investigations and identifying unique subtypes. Uncommon Cryptosporidium species that can infect humans have also been identified highlighting their public health importance and allowing for the elucidation of transmission routes. Finally, employing targeted NGS showed that the detection of multiple infections of Cryptosporidium in one specimen is possible and could expand the potential for clinical specimen analysis.

License

This work is licensed under the University at Albany Standard Author Agreement.

Download

Share

COinS