title: Prevalence and genotype of Giardia duodenalis from faecal samples of stray dogs in Hualien city of eastern Taiwan.
abstract: Giardia duodenalis is a zoonotic protozoan parasite that causes diarrhea through waterborne transmission or fecal-oral infection. The cysts are chlorine-resistant and, therefore, can pollute drinking water and induce a pandemic disease. In this study, we aimed to detect G. duodenalis infection in stray dogs in Hualien, Taiwan. We collected faecal samples from 118 dogs and amplified DNA sequences of the β-giardin gene by nested polymerase chain reactions (nested PCR). Eleven of the 118 faecal samples tested positive for the parasite. The genotype analysis of the 11 samples indicated that 7 samples belonged to assemblage C and four samples belonged to assemblage D. Our study provided a better understanding of the infection rate and genotypes of G. duodenalis in dogs from Hualien City, and human infection could not be induced by this zoonotic infection pathway in Hualien City.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicine and Biotechnology, College of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Y C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.affiliation: Effpha Pharma Management Corp. Taipei Taiwan.
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Sciences, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
authors.forename: T W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Chen T
authors.affiliation: Department of laboratory medicine, Buddhist Tzu-Chi General Hospital, Hualien, Taiwan.
authors.forename: B F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Center for International Tropical medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Informatics, College of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Peng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005838:Genotype; D016829:Giardia lamblia / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005873:Giardiasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D015995:Prevalence; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology