Department of Biology and Medical Parasitology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland.
Molecular Biology Techniques Laboratory, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland.
Zoonoses Public Health. 2021 Aug;68(5):538-543. doi: 10.1111/zph.12826. Epub 2021 Mar 21.
Giardia duodenalis is a cosmopolitan flagellate that causes giardiasis, one of the most significant gastrointestinal diseases in humans. This parasite can be a serious threat to public health because it can cause waterborne outbreaks as well as sporadic infections in humans. Invasive raccoons (Procyon lotor) may play a role in disseminating Giardia into the environment and transmitting it to humans and domestic animals because they live in high densities and deposit their faces in latrines near areas used by humans. While Giardia infections have been reported from raccoons in North America, it is unknown whether they carry G. duodenalis with zoonotic assemblage A and B, which have the potential to cause illness in humans. We collected faecal samples from 66 legally harvested raccoons in Germany and Luxembourg and examined for Giardia using molecular techniques. Using a quantitative PCR based on primers specific to Giardia genetic assemblages A and B, we detected the presence of zoonotic assemblage B in 27% (95% CI, 17.0-39.6) of all examined faecal samples from raccoons, including animals sampled in buildings. We did not detect genetic assemblage A in any of the samples. Sequences obtained from the glutamate dehydrogenase and beta-giardin gene fragments from a selection of three of the positive samples showed that raccoons carried a zoonotic G. duodenalis genotype belonging to sub-assemblage BIV, which is commonly found in humans and animals worldwide. Our results suggest that free-ranging raccoons have the potential to play an increasingly important role in the epidemiology of Giardia and pose a threat to public health in Europe and other regions where this species is common and lives in close association with humans.
十二指肠贾第鞭毛虫是一种世界性的鞭毛虫，可引起贾第虫病，这是人类最常见的胃肠道疾病之一。这种寄生虫可能对公共卫生构成严重威胁，因为它可以引起水源性暴发以及人类的散发性感染。入侵的浣熊（浣熊）可能在将贾第虫传播到环境中并将其传播给人类和家畜方面发挥作用，因为它们生活在高密度地区，并将其脸部置于人类使用的厕所附近。虽然在北美的浣熊中已经报告了贾第虫感染，但尚不清楚它们是否携带具有人类致病潜力的贾第虫属 A 和 B 共生体。我们从德国和卢森堡合法捕获的 66 只浣熊中采集粪便样本，并使用分子技术检查贾第虫。使用针对贾第虫共生体 A 和 B 的特异性引物的定量 PCR，我们在 27%（95%CI，17.0-39.6）的所有检查的浣熊粪便样本中检测到共生体 B 的存在，包括在建筑物中采样的动物。我们在任何样本中都未检测到共生体 A。从三个阳性样本的谷氨酸脱氢酶和β-微管蛋白基因片段获得的序列表明，浣熊携带一种属于共生体 BIV 的人类和动物中常见的具有人类致病潜力的贾第虫属基因型。我们的研究结果表明，自由放养的浣熊可能在贾第虫病的流行病学中发挥越来越重要的作用，并对欧洲和其他该物种常见且与人类密切相关的地区的公共卫生构成威胁。
