Imre Mirela, Dărăbuș Gheorghe, Morariu Sorin, Szabó Krisztián, Ilie Marius-Stelian, Florea Tiana, Pocinoc Alexandra, Awwad Reem, Imre Kálmán
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Life Sciences "King Mihai I" from Timisoara, 300645 Timisoara, Romania.
Department of Zoology, Institute for Biology, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, H-1077 Budapest, Hungary.
Pathogens. 2025 Jun 27;14(7):641. doi: 10.3390/pathogens14070641.
is one of the most common microsporidian parasites, primarily infecting the intestinal epithelial cells of a broad range of animal species, including humans. To date, no scientific reports have documented spp. in animal hosts in Romania. This study aimed to assess the occurrence and genetic characteristics of in shelter dogs, as well as its potential public health relevance. Between December 2022 and May 2025, a total of 112 freshly voided diarrheal fecal samples were collected from dogs housed in a shelter near Timișoara Municipality, Romania. The samples were subjected to molecular analysis using a two-step nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rRNA gene. The resulting sequences were deposited in GenBank and analyzed phylogenetically. PCR analysis revealed DNA in 11 (9.8%) samples, identifying two genotypes, with PtEb IX (n = 10) as the dominant genotype and BEB4 (n = 1), which has zoonotic potential. A significant difference in prevalence was found between juvenile (23.1%) and adult (5.8%) dogs ( = 0.026). Phylogenetic analysis of the ITS sequences showed that the isolates clustered into two distinct clades alongside reference sequences from the GenBank database. This is the first report of infection in animals in Romania, providing essential baseline data and highlighting the need for broader surveillance into its prevalence and genetic diversity in other potential hosts. These results reflect the prevalence and genetic diversity of exclusively among symptomatic (diarrheic) dogs and should not be generalized to the broader shelter dog population.
是最常见的微孢子虫寄生虫之一，主要感染包括人类在内的多种动物物种的肠道上皮细胞。迄今为止，罗马尼亚尚未有关于该物种在动物宿主中的科学报道。本研究旨在评估罗马尼亚蒂米什瓦拉市附近一家收容所中犬只体内该寄生虫的感染情况、遗传特征及其潜在的公共卫生相关性。在2022年12月至2025年5月期间，从罗马尼亚蒂米什瓦拉市附近一家收容所的犬只中总共采集了112份新鲜排出的腹泻粪便样本。使用针对rRNA基因内部转录间隔区（ITS）的两步巢式聚合酶链反应（PCR）对样本进行分子分析。所得序列存入GenBank并进行系统发育分析。PCR分析在11份（9.8%）样本中检测到该寄生虫DNA，鉴定出两种基因型，其中PtEb IX（n = 10）为优势基因型，BEB4（n = 1）具有人畜共患病潜力。幼犬（23.1%）和成年犬（5.8%）的感染率存在显著差异（P = 0.026）。ITS序列的系统发育分析表明，分离株与GenBank数据库中的参考序列一起聚为两个不同的进化枝。这是罗马尼亚动物感染该寄生虫的首次报告，提供了重要的基线数据，并强调需要对其他潜在宿主中该寄生虫的流行情况和遗传多样性进行更广泛的监测。这些结果仅反映了有症状（腹泻）犬只中该寄生虫的流行情况和遗传多样性，不应推广到更广泛的收容所犬只群体。
