Multilocus genotyping of Giardia duodenalis isolates from children in Oromia Special Zone, central Ethiopia

Abstract

BackgroundGiardia duodenalis is the etiologic agent of giardiasis in humans and other mammals worldwide. The burden of disease is high among children in developing countries where sanitation is inadequate. However, the epidemiology and genetic diversity of this parasite is poorly understood in Ethiopia. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and genetic diversity of G. duodenalis in asymptomatic children in Oromia Special Zone, central Ethiopia.ResultsA total of 286 fresh fecal specimens were collected from children and screened using microscopy and PCR. The prevalence of Giardia duodenalis was 10.8 % (31/286) and 16.8 % (48/286) as detected by microscopy and nested PCR, respectively. The infection rate by the study area, sex and age group difference was not significant (P > 0.05). Genotyping results showed that 22.9 % (11/48) of the isolates belonged to assemblage A while 77.1 % (37/48) belonged to assemblage B. Although double peaks were observed at the chromatogram level, no mixed assemblage or sub-assemblage infections were demonstrated. Isolates of assemblage A mostly belonged to the sub-assemblage AII and showed similarity with previously described isolates. However, there was great genetic variability within assemblage B that showed heterogeneous nucleotide positions. Fifteen of them were new genotypes: 5 at the triose phosphate isomerase (tpi), 2 at the β-giardin (bg), and 8 at the glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh) genes.ConclusionsGiardia duodenalis mainly assemblage B infection was predominant among the asymptomatic children in the study area. The high polymorphism found in isolates of assemblage B warrants a more defining tool to discriminate assemblage B at the sub-assemblage level. The findings of the present study indicate that there is a need to carry out national screening programs aiming to detect asymptomatic infections to minimize the reservoir of the disease.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12866-016-0706-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Multilocus genotyping of Giardia duodenalis in captive non-human primates in Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, Southwestern China

“…duodenalis , multi-locus genotyping (MLG) employing beta-giardin ( bg ), triose phosphate isomerase ( tpi ) and glutamate dehydrogenase ( gdh ) has been used for genotyping and subtyping G . duodenalis in humans and animals [ 11 – 13 ]. The aim of the present study was to characterize G .…”

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

“…The occurrence of sub-assemblage AI in calves in the current study supports the observation that this sub-assemblage predominates in animals than in humans (Xiao and Fayer, 2008;Sprong et al, 2009). The previous molecular studies conducted in Ethiopia showed the occurrence of sub-assemblage AI, AII, BIII and BIV in humans (Gelanew et al, 2007;Flecha et al, 2015;Wegayehu et al, 2016). Hence, the occurrence of assemblage AI isolates both in cattle and humans warrants further investigation due to the zoonotic potential of sub-assemblage within this assemblage.…”

“…Molecular studies conducted in Ethiopia have shown the occurrence of assemblages A and B in humans (Gelanew et al, 2007;Flecha et al, 2015;Wegayehu et al, 2016). Mixed infections of assemblages A and F have also been reported (Gelanew et al, 2007).…”

Prevalence and genetic characterization of Cryptosporidium species and Giardia duodenalis in lambs in Oromia Special Zone, Central Ethiopia

“…Recent study conducted on giardiasis showed prevalence of 16.8% in children in Holetta, Sendafa and Chancho [18]. In addition, molecular studies conducted in humans identified C. parvum zoonotic subtype family IIa [19, 20] and G. duodenalis assemblage A and B [18, 21, 22] as the major cause of human cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis in Ethiopia. However, no molecular studies have conducted in sheep to assess the prevalence and genotypes that they harbor.…”