Epidemiology of Giardia duodenalis infection in ruminant livestock and children in the Ismailia province of Egypt: insights by genetic characterization

Abstract

BackgroundGiardia duodenalis is a common flagellated protozoan parasite that infects the small intestine of a wide range of vertebrate hosts. This study aimed to determine whether tracing of G. duodenalis isolates by current genetic typing tools is possible using an exemplary set of samples from infected cattle, buffalo and children from the Ismailia province, Egypt.MethodA total of 804 fecal samples from ruminant animals was collected from 191 herds and 165 samples from diarrheal children below the age of 10 years. Parasites were detected in these samples using the copro-antigen RIDA®QUICK test and by real-time PCR. Samples were then genetically characterized based on the triosephosphate isomerase, glutamate dehydrogenase and β-giardin genes.ResultsThe prevalence of G. duodenalis was 53% in ruminants and 21% in symptomatic children and infection was not positively correlated with diarrheal symptoms. Sequence typing analysis confirmed predominance of B-type sequences (>67%) in humans and E-type sequences (>81%) in ruminants over A-type sequences. For 39 samples the complete sequence information of the three marker gene fragments could be derived. Integration of the concatenated sequence information of the three marker gene fragments with the spatial data of the respective sample revealed that identical or near identical (only up to 1 out of 1358 bp different) concatenated sequencing types were spatially related in 4 out of 5 cases.ConclusionThe risk of zoonotic infection emanating from ruminants even in high prevalence areas is negligible. Genetic characterization indicated a predominant anthropogenic cycle of infection within the pediatric population studied. Integration of sequence typing data with information on geographic origins of samples allows parasite sub-population tracing using current typing tools.

Molecular typing ofGiardia duodenalisin humans in Queensland – first report of Assemblage E

“…The high prevalence of assemblage E was attributed to the fact that the children lived in rural villages with large cattle populations (Abdel-Moein and Saeed, 2016). Other studies in Egypt have reported assemblage E in 15 and 11·1%, respectively, of Giardia positive human samples (Foronda et al 2008;Helmy et al 2014). In Brazil, assemblage E was identified in 34% (15/44) of Giardia-positive samples amongst preschoolers (aged between 10 months and 4 years) in a community of Rio de Janeiro (Fantinatti et al 2016).…”

“…The remaining assemblages are considered to be largely host-specific. However recent studies have reported the occurrence of animal assemblages in humans including assemblage F in Ethiopia (Gelanew et al 2007), assemblage E in Egypt and Brazil (Foronda et al 2008;Helmy et al 2014;Abdel-Moein and Saeed, 2016;Fantinatti et al 2016;Scalia et al 2016), assemblage C in China and Slovakia (Liu et al 2014;Štrkolcová et al 2015) and assemblage D in German travellers (Broglia et al 2013). Very little is known about the prevalence and genetic diversity of Giardia assemblages infecting humans in Queensland, Australia.…”

Cryptosporidium and Giardia in Africa: current and future challenges

“…positive/No. tested) Giardia duodenalis assemblage (Prevalence in %) b SubassemblageReferenceCentral African RepublicWildlifeWild western lowland gorillas ( Gorilla gorilla gorilla )2.0% (4/210)A (100)AII[122]DomesticGoat ( Capra aegagrus hircus )11.1% (1/9)E (100)Côte d’IvoireDomesticDog ( Canis familiaris )54.5% (6/11)A (33.3)[106]A + B (16.7)C (33.3)D (33.3)Goat ( Capra aegagrus hircus )50% (1/2)A + B (100)Duck ( Cairina moschata )33.3% (1/3)A + B (100)Chicken ( Gallus gallus )58.1% (18/31)A (38.9)B (38.9)A + B (22.2)EgyptDomesticCattle ( Bos taurus )6.7% (40/593)A (15.4)AI; AII[80]E (82.7)A/E (1.9)Buffalo ( Bubalus bubalis )4.7% (10/211)A (20.0)Both cattle and buffalo53.2% (424/804) by RT-PCRE (80.0)EgyptDomesticCattle ( Bos taurus )8.7% (4/46)E (100)[169]EgyptDomesticCalves ( Bos taurus )30.8% (25/58)A (20.0)[175]E (80.0)EgyptWild and culturedFish ( Tilapia nilotica ; Mugil cephalus )…”

Multilocus genotyping of Giardia duodenalis isolates from calves in Oromia Special Zone, Central Ethiopia

“…This observation supports the superior sensitivity of PCR in detecting G. duodenalis as expected. The infection rate of G. duodenalis in cattle has shown wide variation within and between countries (Geurden et al, 2008;Helmy et al, 2014;Minetti et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2014;Winkworth et al, 2008). Therefore, it is difficult to compare the result obtained in this study with the results from other countries as the prevalence could be affected by complex determining factors such as the husbandry and management system, hygienic conditions inside and around the farms, cattle stocking density, the nursing condition and water supply among others.…”