Giardia: an under-reported foodborne parasite

Abstract

Foodborne zoonotic pathogens are a serious public health issue and result in significant global economic losses. Despite their importance to public health, epidemiological data on foodborne diseases including giardiasis caused by the enteric parasite, Giardia duodenalis, are lacking. This parasite is estimated to cause ~28.2 million cases of diarrhoea each year due to contamination of food, but very few foodborne outbreaks have been documented due to the limitations of current detection as well as surveillance methods. The current method for the recovery of Giardia cysts from food matrices using immunomagnetic separation requires further standardisation and cost reduction before it can be widely used. It also should incorporate downstream molecular procedures for genotyping, and traceback and viability analyses. Foodborne giardiasis can be potentially controlled through improvements in national disease surveillance systems and the establishment of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) interventions across the food chain. Studies are needed to assess the true prevalence and public health impact of foodborne giardiasis.

Occurrence and multilocus genotyping of Giardia duodenalis in captive non-human primates from 12 zoos in China

“…Compared with other countries, the average infection rate in this study was closed to that in Thailand (7.0%, 14/200) [9] and Uganda (11.1%, 9/81) [10], but lower than that in North-West India (31.2%, 53/170) [11]. The differences of infection rates in NHPs may be related to animal health status, detection methods, or geo-ecological conditions [2,8,15,16,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. Nested PCR protocols based on single-copy genes (bg, tpi and gdh) had considerable lower diagnostic sensitivities than those based on multiple-copy genes (e.g.…”

Prevalence and Genotype Distribution of Giardia duodenalis in Rabbits in Shandong Province, Eastern China

“…Eight assemblages have been identified in G. duodenalis, including assemblages A-H [2,5]. e structure of eight assemblages is similar, but the genotypes are distinct [8].…”

“…Giardia intestinalis, Giardia lamblia) is a common gastrointestinal protozoon that causes enteric disease in a variety of animal species and humans [1][2][3][4]. More than 40 species of animals have been reported to be infected with G. duodenalis over the world [2,5]. Humans can be infected through ingesting water and food contaminated with G. duodenalis cysts [6].…”

“…Rabbits are one of the most important economic animals in China, and the consumption of meat and fur accounts for a large part of China's economy [12]. However, rabbits are susceptible to many pathogens [5,13,14], including G. duodenalis [15][16][17][18][19][20], which can cause significant economic losses to the rabbit breeding industry.…”

Specific IgG and IgA Antibody Reactivities in Sera of Children by Enzyme-Linked Immunoassay and Comparison With Giardia duodenalis Diagnosis in Feces

“…Parasitic infections can cause anemia, malnutrition, and other impairments in physical and cognitive development, especially in children [1,2]. Giardia duodenalis is one of the main etiological agents of diarrhea worldwide, accounting for approximately 28.2 million cases of diarrhea each year due to food contamination [3]. Protozoa transmission is considered a public health problem in developing countries, and since 2004, Giardia has been included in the WHO's "Neglected Diseases Initiative" group [4].…”