Molecular characterization of Giardia duodenalis, Cryptosporidium spp., and Entamoeba spp. infecting domestic and feral/stray cats in Jordan

TY - JOUR

T1 - Molecular characterization of Giardia duodenalis, Cryptosporidium spp., and Entamoeba spp. infecting domestic and feral/stray cats in Jordan

AU - Mukbel, Rami

AU - Hammad, Haifa

AU - Enemark, Heidi

AU - Alsabi, Rania

AU - Al-Sabi, Mohammad

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024.

PY - 2024/10

Y1 - 2024/10

N2 - This study aimed to carry out a molecular screening for the presence of Giardia, Cryptosporidium, and/or Entamoeba in the feces of pet and stray/feral cats in Jordan. G. duodenalis was found in 27.9% (95% CI, 23.2–32.9) of the 348 sampled cats overall; E. histolytica was found in only 0.6% (95% CI, 0.1–2.1) of the cats, while none of the sampled cats had Cryptosporidium infections. The infection rate of G. duodenalis among indoor cats (32.3%) did not differ significantly from that among outdoor cats (24.1%). There were significantly more infections (p = 0.0004) geographically in the cold semiarid areas (67%) than in the cold desert areas (24%). Multilocus sequence typing analysis of amplicons based on the bg, tpi, and gdh genes revealed that the majority of G. duodenalis infections were zoonotic assemblage B (65.9%; 64 of 97 positive samples); followed by feline-specific assemblage F (18.5%, 18/97); cattle-specific assemblage E (5.2%, 5/97); and then assemblage C that was shared with canids (1.0%; 1/97). Within Giardia isolates, a substitution mutation (A/G) was found at position 297 of the complete protein coding sequence (cds) of tpi-assemblage B, which may represent a new spreading mutation within this gene among the cat population in Jordan. The results of the present study suggest that close human-cat interactions could play a role in zoonotic transmission of Giardia, but further research is needed to determine the possible contribution of cats to the transmission of other protozoa to humans.

AB - This study aimed to carry out a molecular screening for the presence of Giardia, Cryptosporidium, and/or Entamoeba in the feces of pet and stray/feral cats in Jordan. G. duodenalis was found in 27.9% (95% CI, 23.2–32.9) of the 348 sampled cats overall; E. histolytica was found in only 0.6% (95% CI, 0.1–2.1) of the cats, while none of the sampled cats had Cryptosporidium infections. The infection rate of G. duodenalis among indoor cats (32.3%) did not differ significantly from that among outdoor cats (24.1%). There were significantly more infections (p = 0.0004) geographically in the cold semiarid areas (67%) than in the cold desert areas (24%). Multilocus sequence typing analysis of amplicons based on the bg, tpi, and gdh genes revealed that the majority of G. duodenalis infections were zoonotic assemblage B (65.9%; 64 of 97 positive samples); followed by feline-specific assemblage F (18.5%, 18/97); cattle-specific assemblage E (5.2%, 5/97); and then assemblage C that was shared with canids (1.0%; 1/97). Within Giardia isolates, a substitution mutation (A/G) was found at position 297 of the complete protein coding sequence (cds) of tpi-assemblage B, which may represent a new spreading mutation within this gene among the cat population in Jordan. The results of the present study suggest that close human-cat interactions could play a role in zoonotic transmission of Giardia, but further research is needed to determine the possible contribution of cats to the transmission of other protozoa to humans.

KW - Cats

KW - Jordan

KW - MLST

KW - Molecular diagnosis

KW - Protozoa

KW - Zoonoses

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85206276813&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s00436-024-08358-z

DO - 10.1007/s00436-024-08358-z

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 39404859

AN - SCOPUS:85206276813

SN - 0932-0113

VL - 123

JO - Parasitology Research

JF - Parasitology Research

IS - 10

M1 - 351

ER -