en تخصصي Special Original article Original article <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="line-height:115%"><b><span style="line-height:115%">Background: </span></b><i><span style="line-height:115%">Cryptosporidium</span></i><span style="line-height:115%"> is one of the most important agents of food-borne diseases with gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea in either livestock or humans. This protozoon can be transmitted to human through consuming contaminated raw milk and dairy products. The present study aimed to detect <i>Cryptosporidium</i> spp. in traditional raw cow milk, cream, and cheese consumed in Yazd city, Central Iran.<span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;"></span></span></span><br> <span style="line-height:115%"><b><span style="line-height:115%">Methods:</span></b><span style="line-height:115%"> Two hundred traditional (unpasteurized) milk and dairy samples were collected from five different regions of the studied area, including 100 traditional cow milk, 50 cow cheese, and 50 cow cream. DNA extraction was performed. Then, molecular detection was performed using the nested Polymerase Chain Reaction technique. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 23.0.</span></span><br> <span style="line-height:115%"><b><span style="line-height:115%">Results:</span></b><span style="line-height:115%"> The findings of this study showed that 11% samples were contaminated with <i>Cryptosporidium</i> spp., including 4.0% (4/100) milk, 18.0% (9/50) cream, and 18.0% (9/50) cheese (<i>p</i><0.05). Besides, parasite contamination was 8.8, 12.5, 12.8, 8.3, and 12.8% in the Center, North, East, South, and West of the studied region, respectively (<i>p</i>>0.05).<span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;"></span></span></span><br> <span style="line-height:115%"><b><span style="line-height:115%">Conclusion:</span></b> <span style="line-height:115%">Due to the occurrence of <i>Cryptosporidium</i> spp. in unpasteurized dairy samples in Central Iran, developing and designing control and prevention programs is necessary against this parasite.<span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;"></span></span></span><br> <br> <span style="line-height:115%"><b><span style="line-height:115%"><span style="color:black">DOI:</span></span></b> <span style="line-height:115%">10.18502/jfqhc.9.2.10646</span></span></span></span></div> Cryptosporidium, Parasites, Milk, Dairy Products, Cheese, Iran 98 104 http://jfqhc.ssu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-92-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 S. Shahrokhi 0000-0001-9541-8992 No Research Center for Food Hygiene and Safety, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran, Department of Food Hygiene and Safety, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran B. Hajimohammadi No Research Center for Food Hygiene and Safety, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran, Department of Food Hygiene and Safety, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran G. Eslami eslami _g2000@yahoo.com 0000-0002-4521-4059 Yes Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran M.H. Ehrampoush No Research Center for Food Hygiene and Safety, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran M.H. Fallahzadeh No Center for Healthcare Data Modeling, Departments of biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of public health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran