Comparative genomics and population genetic analyses of Cryptosporidium hominis

Cryptosporidium hominis is the most important cause of severe diarrhea globally. In the United States, accompanying the recent dramatic increase in cryptosporidiosis incidence was the emergence of IfA12G1R5 subtype of C. hominis. Here we show it is now the dominant subtype for sporadic cases and outbreaks in the United States. We performed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of 146 C. hominis isolates collected from the United States, Spain, and China in recent years and conducted comparative genomics and population genetic analyses of the data together with 103 published ones to understand the evolution of C. hominis and the emergence of IfA12G1R5 in the United States.