Research Unit for Tropical Diseases, de Duve Institute, Brussels, Belgium.
Infect Genet Evol. 2011 Oct;11(7):1520-8. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2011.07.023. Epub 2011 Aug 6.
Naegleria fowleri, a worldwide distributed pathogen, is the causative agent of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. Because it is such a fulminant disease, most patients do not survive the infection. This pathogen is a free-living amoeboflagellate present in warm water. To date, it is well established that there are several types of N. fowleri, which can be distinguished based on the length of the internal transcribed spacer 1 and a one bp transition in the 5.8S rDNA. Seven of the eight known types have been detected in Europe. Three types are present in the USA, of which one is unique to this country. Only one of the eight types occurs in Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) and Japan. In mainland Asia (India, China and Thailand) the two most common types are found, which are also present in Europe and the USA. There is strong indication that the pathogenic N. fowleri evolved from the nonpathogenic Naegleria lovaniensis on the American continent. There is no evidence of virulence differences between the types of N. fowleri. Two other Naegleria spp. are pathogenic for mice, but human infections due to these two other Naegleria spp. are not known.
福氏耐格里阿米巴原虫，一种分布广泛的病原体，是原发性阿米巴脑膜脑炎的致病因子。由于这种疾病发展迅速，大多数患者无法存活。这种病原体是一种自由生活的阿米巴鞭毛虫，存在于温水环境中。迄今为止，已经确定有几种福氏耐格里阿米巴原虫，可通过内部转录间隔区 1 的长度和 5.8S rDNA 中的一个 1bp 转换来区分。在欧洲已经发现了已知的 8 种中的 7 种。在美国有 3 种，其中一种是该国特有的。在大洋洲（澳大利亚和新西兰）和日本只有一种出现在 8 种类型中。在亚洲大陆（印度、中国和泰国）发现了两种最常见的类型，它们也存在于欧洲和美国。有强烈的迹象表明，致病的福氏耐格里阿米巴原虫是从美洲大陆的非致病性拉瓦尼氏耐格里阿米巴进化而来的。福氏耐格里阿米巴原虫的类型之间没有证据表明存在毒力差异。另外两种耐格里亚属的阿米巴对老鼠具有致病性，但这两种其他耐格里亚属的阿米巴引起人类感染的情况尚不清楚。
