title: Detection of Giardia assemblage A in cats in Florence, Italy.
abstract: In the present study, the assemblage of Giardia isolates from stray and owned cats was investigated. Faeces were randomly collected from 27 cats, screened by microscopy and examined by molecular methods that included DNA extraction, small subunit rRNA gene amplification and DNA sequence analysis. Ten cats were found to be infected with Giardia and harbouring cysts belonging to the zoonotic assemblage A. The cat-specific assemblage F was not found. Such a high proportion of Giardia assemblage A in cats may pose for a different geographical distribution of assemblages in the world. These findings provide insights that may be useful to map the epidemiological risk of the infection worldwide, as this may be instrumental in safeguarding human health.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Clinica Veterinaria, Facoltà di Medicina Veterinaria, Viale delle Piagge 2, 56124, Pisa, Italy. rpapini@vet.unipi.it
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Papini
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cardini
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Paoletti
authors.forename: Annunziata
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giangaspero
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D002415:Cats; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D005872:Giardia / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005873:Giardiasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male