Giardia duodenalis sub-Assemblage of animal and human origin in horses

摘要

In order to evaluate infection occurrence and the potential zoonotic role of horse isolates of Giardia duodenalis, 431 individual fecal samples were genetically characterized by PCR tests -coupled sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Thirty-seven (8.6%) animals resulted infected by different Assemblage. The presence of sub-Assemblage was assessed by characterizing the B-giardin gene for 16 of the 37 positive horses. Ten isolates showed 99.6% to 100% homology with the sub-Assemblage described as Bl-2and Bl-6, three Assemblage A showed 99.8% homology with sub-Assemblage Al, while one Assemblage E displayed 98.8% homology with sub-Assemblage E3. Furthermore, one isolate characterized as Assemblage A showed 99.6% homology with the sub-Assemblage Bl-2and one characterized as E was 100% identical with sub-Assemblage Bl-6. These results demonstrate the presence of both animal and human sub-Assemblage of G. duodenalis in horses from Italy. Epidemiological and sanitary implications are discussed.