Table 3.
Blastocystis subtype observations and prevalence by age group in a longitudinal study of dairy heifer calves
| Age group | No. of tested samples | No. of positive samples | Subtypes observeda | No. of observations | Percentage of positive samples in age group | Percentage of all samples in age group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-weaned (1–8 weeks) | 240 | 26 | ST4 | 6 | 23.1 | 2.5 |
| ST5 | 4 | 15.4 | 1.7 | |||
| ST10a | 3 | 11.5 | 1.3 | |||
| ST10b | 14 | 53.8 | 5.8 | |||
| ST14 | 9 | 34.6 | 3.6 | |||
| ST21 | 1 | 3.8 | 0.4 | |||
| ST25 | 1 | 3.8 | 0.4 | |||
| Post-weaned (3–11 months) | 360 | 76 | ST1 | 2 | 2.6 | 0.6 |
| ST3 | 4 | 5.3 | 1.1 | |||
| ST4 | 2 | 2.6 | 0.6 | |||
| ST5 | 1 | 1.3 | 0.3 | |||
| ST10a | 24 | 31.6 | 6.7 | |||
| ST10b | 33 | 43.4 | 9.2 | |||
| ST10c | 9 | 11.8 | 2.5 | |||
| ST10d | 39 | 51.3 | 10.8 | |||
| ST10e | 3 | 3.9 | 0.8 | |||
| ST14 | 34 | 44.7 | 9.4 | |||
| ST24 | 39 | 51.3 | 10.8 | |||
| ST25 | 8 | 10.5 | 2.2 | |||
| ST26 | 13 | 17.1 | 3.6 | |||
| Novel | 2 | 2.6 | 0.6 | |||
| Heifer (12–24 months) | 390 | 335 | ST1 | 3 | 0.9 | 0.8 |
| ST2 | 1 | 0.3 | 0.3 | |||
| ST3 | 6 | 1.8 | 1.6 | |||
| ST4 | 5 | 1.5 | 1.3 | |||
| ST6 | 1 | 0.3 | 0.3 | |||
| ST10a | 203 | 60.6 | 52.1 | |||
| ST10b | 47 | 14.0 | 12.1 | |||
| ST10c | 134 | 40.0 | 34.4 | |||
| ST10d | 312 | 93.1 | 80 | |||
| ST10e | 226 | 67.5 | 57.9 | |||
| ST14 | 54 | 16.1 | 13.8 | |||
| ST21 | 72 | 21.5 | 18.5 | |||
| ST23 | 98 | 29.3 | 25.1 | |||
| ST24 | 17 | 5.1 | 4.9 | |||
| ST25 | 310 | 92.5 | 79.5 | |||
| ST26 | 312 | 93.1 | 80 | |||
| Novel | 3 | 0.9 | 0.8 |
aST10 was divided into five subgroups (ST10a, ST10b, ST10c, ST10d, and ST10e)