A sharp rise in the global population and improved lifestyles has led to questions about the quality of both food and water. Among protozoan parasites, Cryptosporidium is of great importance in this regard. Hence, Cryptosporidium’s associated risk factors, its unique characteristics compared to other protozoan parasites, its zoonotic transmission, and associated economic losses in the public health and livestock sectors need to be focused on from a One Health perspective, including collaboration by experts from all three sectors. Cryptosporidium, being the fifth largest food threat, and the second largest cause of mortality in children under five years of age, is of great significance. The contamination of vegetables, fresh fruits, juices, unpasteurized raw milk, uncooked meat, and fish by Cryptosporidium oocysts occurs through infected food handlers, sewage-based contamination, agricultural effluents, infected animal manure being used as biofertilizer, etc., leading to severe foodborne outbreaks. The only Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drug, Nitazoxanide (NTZ), provides inconsistent results in all groups of patients, and currently, there is no vaccine against it. The prime concerns of this review are to provide a deep insight into the Cryptosporidium’s global burden, associated water- and foodborne outbreaks, and some future perspectives in an attempt to effectively manage this protozoal disease. A thorough literature search was performed to organize the most relevant, latest, and quantified data, justifying the title. The estimation of its true burden, strategies to break the transmission pathways and life cycle of Cryptosporidium, and the search for vaccine targets through genome editing technology represent some future research perspectives.

This study investigated the impact of varying dietary protein–energy ratios on the intestinal microbiota composition in postpartum weaned female yak. For this study, forty yaks were divided into four groups and provided with different dietary treatments (group FA: high-energy high-protein, FB: high-energy low-protein, FC: low-energy high-protein, and FD: control group, provided with 48% alfalfa hay, 48% oat grass, and 4% premix) to investigate the variations in microflora profiles and metabolic responses. Rectal fecal samples (n = 24 × 2) were collected at day 15 and 30, from all four groups, and total DNA was extracted to estimate microbial heterogeneity and community structures by 16S rRNA sequencing focusing V3–V4 regions, using the Illumina Nova Seq 6000 platform. The results revealed a total of 5,669,645 raw data sequences (3,189,115 and 2,480,530 from day 15 and day 30, respectively). Results showed that groups FA and FB had enhanced protein metabolism and microbial diversity, which was marked by a significant increase (p < 0.05) in abundance of Ruminococcus. Conversely, the FD group showed a low level of microbial diversity with a significant (p < 0.05) predominance of Clostridium and Proteobacteria, indicating microbial dysbiosis and metabolic stress. It was concluded that imbalanced diets (groups FC and FD) upregulated the stress-related pathways with no favorable microbial shifts, whereas, dietary treatments in group FA and FB significantly (p < 0.05) supported the pathways involved in amino acids and carbohydrate metabolism and beneficially shifted the gut microbiota. These findings emphasize the importance of postpartum supplementation with appropriate proportions of protein and energy feed to promote optimal microbial health and metabolic functioning, particularly for yaks inhabiting high-altitude regions, which is a challenging environment.