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Cryptosporidium Deer Mouse Genotype IV Was Recorded in Europe for the First Time in European Hares

European hare in Prague, Czechia
Research: Disease, parasites & microbiology, Genetics & genomics

Five faecal samples from wild European hares (Lepus europaeus) in Czechia and Slovakia contained Cryptosporidium sp. deer mouse genotype IV. Cryptosporidium is a group of microscopic single-celled parasites. The finding gives giving the first European record of this genetic lineage. The study, published on 6 August 2026, analysed 370 samples collected between 2022 and 2024 and also found several other Cryptosporidium species and microsporidian parasites.

A lineage previously associated mainly with Peromyscus mice

The name “deer mouse genotype IV” refers to a genetic lineage of Cryptosporidium; it does not mean that deer mice were sampled in this study. Earlier research found deer mouse genotypes I–IV mainly in North American Peromyscus mice. The new finding shows that genotype IV also occurred in samples from European hares and documents the lineage in Europe for the first time.

Overall, Cryptosporidium was detected in 15 of the 370 hare samples, or 4.1%. Besides the five samples with deer mouse genotype IV, sequencing identified C. parvum in two samples, C. sciurinum in three and C. ubiquitum in five. The study further differentiated several subtypes within these species, but the main biological result is that the hare samples contained several distinct Cryptosporidium lineages rather than a single taxon.

Microsporidia were detected more often

Microsporidia are intracellular parasites. Encephalitozoon was detected in 34 samples (9.2%). Most of these were E. cuniculi genotype II, found in 26 samples; genotypes I and III and one E. hellem detection were also recorded. Enterocytozoon bieneusi was found in 16 samples (4.3%) and represented five genotypes, with genotype D the most frequent. Giardia intestinalis was not detected.

Together, the survey shows that the hare samples contained several genetically distinct Cryptosporidium lineages and microsporidia. The clearest new geographic finding was deer mouse genotype IV in five samples, a lineage previously known mainly from North American Peromyscus mice.

Sources and image credit

  1. Konvalinová, A., Křesťanová, M., Holubová, N., Fenclová, J., Kicia, M., Rajský, M., Beran, P., Sak, B., & Kváč, M. (2026). Genetic characterisation of Cryptosporidium spp., Encephalitozoon spp., and Enterocytozoon bieneusi in European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) in Central Europe. Parasite, 33, 43.Primary peer-reviewed open-access article published 6 August 2026. Molecular screening of 370 faecal samples from European hares in Czechia and Slovakia detected Cryptosporidium in 15 samples, Encephalitozoon in 34 and Enterocytozoon bieneusi in 16. Five samples contained Cryptosporidium sp. deer mouse genotype IV, its first reported occurrence in Europe.
  2. Stenger, B. L. S., Horčičková, M., Clark, M. E., et al. (2018). Cryptosporidium infecting wild cricetid rodents from the subfamilies Arvicolinae and Neotominae. Parasitology, 145(3), 326–334.Background source used to clarify the established genotype name: deer mouse genotypes I–IV had been reported mainly from Peromyscus deer mice in North America.

Image: Skot — wild European hare (Lepus europaeus) photographed at Vrch Třešňovka, Prague, Czechia, 28 April 2024; Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Representative species image; not an individual from the study. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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