Blastocystis sp. : waterborne zoonotic organism, a possibility?

Background: Blastocystis sp. is a common intestinal parasite found in faecal sample surveys. Several studies have implicated human-to-human, zoonotic and waterborne transmissions by Blastocystis sp. However, there has been no study providing evidence interlinking these three transmissions in a commu...

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Main Authors: Lee, L.I., Chye, T.T., Karmacharya, B.M., Govind, S.K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/4018/1/Lee-2012-Blastocystis_sp.__wa.pdf
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author Lee, L.I.
Chye, T.T.
Karmacharya, B.M.
Govind, S.K.
author_facet Lee, L.I.
Chye, T.T.
Karmacharya, B.M.
Govind, S.K.
author_sort Lee, L.I.
collection UM
description Background: Blastocystis sp. is a common intestinal parasite found in faecal sample surveys. Several studies have implicated human-to-human, zoonotic and waterborne transmissions by Blastocystis sp. However, there has been no study providing evidence interlinking these three transmissions in a community. We have previously shown a high prevalence of Blastocystis sp. subtype 4 amongst village dwellers in Bahunipati, Nepal, and the present study extends the observation to assess if the same subtype of Blastocystis sp. occurs in animals they rear and rivers they frequent. Methods: Faecal samples were collected from 65 animals. Four river water samples were collected from two rivers. Faecal samples were examined using in vitro cultivation. Blastocystis sp. from animal faecal and river samples were genotyped using seven subtype-specific sequence tagged site (STS) primer-polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: Blastocystis sp. infected 15.4 animals with subtype 4 being the predominant genotype (40.0). Both rivers were contaminated with Blastocystis sp. subtype 1 and subtype 4, which were also detected in humans living in the same village in our previous study. Blastocystis sp. subtype 4 that was detected in buffalo and pigs was also found in the respective family members that reared these animals. Conclusions: This unusually high prevalence of Blastocystis subtype 4 found in village dwellers was also found to be pervasive in the animals they reared and the rivers they frequented implying a strong possibility of waterborne zoonosis for Blastocystis sp.
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spelling um.eprints-40182019-08-26T05:04:54Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/4018/ Blastocystis sp. : waterborne zoonotic organism, a possibility? Lee, L.I. Chye, T.T. Karmacharya, B.M. Govind, S.K. R Medicine Background: Blastocystis sp. is a common intestinal parasite found in faecal sample surveys. Several studies have implicated human-to-human, zoonotic and waterborne transmissions by Blastocystis sp. However, there has been no study providing evidence interlinking these three transmissions in a community. We have previously shown a high prevalence of Blastocystis sp. subtype 4 amongst village dwellers in Bahunipati, Nepal, and the present study extends the observation to assess if the same subtype of Blastocystis sp. occurs in animals they rear and rivers they frequent. Methods: Faecal samples were collected from 65 animals. Four river water samples were collected from two rivers. Faecal samples were examined using in vitro cultivation. Blastocystis sp. from animal faecal and river samples were genotyped using seven subtype-specific sequence tagged site (STS) primer-polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: Blastocystis sp. infected 15.4 animals with subtype 4 being the predominant genotype (40.0). Both rivers were contaminated with Blastocystis sp. subtype 1 and subtype 4, which were also detected in humans living in the same village in our previous study. Blastocystis sp. subtype 4 that was detected in buffalo and pigs was also found in the respective family members that reared these animals. Conclusions: This unusually high prevalence of Blastocystis subtype 4 found in village dwellers was also found to be pervasive in the animals they reared and the rivers they frequented implying a strong possibility of waterborne zoonosis for Blastocystis sp. BMC 2012 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://eprints.um.edu.my/4018/1/Lee-2012-Blastocystis_sp.__wa.pdf Lee, L.I. and Chye, T.T. and Karmacharya, B.M. and Govind, S.K. (2012) Blastocystis sp. : waterborne zoonotic organism, a possibility? Parasites & Vectors, 5. ISSN 1756-3305, DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-5-130 <https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-5-130>. http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1756-3305-5-130.pdf 10.1186/1756-3305-5-130
spellingShingle R Medicine
Lee, L.I.
Chye, T.T.
Karmacharya, B.M.
Govind, S.K.
Blastocystis sp. : waterborne zoonotic organism, a possibility?
title Blastocystis sp. : waterborne zoonotic organism, a possibility?
title_full Blastocystis sp. : waterborne zoonotic organism, a possibility?
title_fullStr Blastocystis sp. : waterborne zoonotic organism, a possibility?
title_full_unstemmed Blastocystis sp. : waterborne zoonotic organism, a possibility?
title_short Blastocystis sp. : waterborne zoonotic organism, a possibility?
title_sort blastocystis sp waterborne zoonotic organism a possibility
topic R Medicine
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/4018/1/Lee-2012-Blastocystis_sp.__wa.pdf
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AT chyett blastocystisspwaterbornezoonoticorganismapossibility
AT karmacharyabm blastocystisspwaterbornezoonoticorganismapossibility
AT govindsk blastocystisspwaterbornezoonoticorganismapossibility