title: Prevalence and Genetic Characterization of Histomonas meleagridis in Chickens in Vietnam.
abstract: This study was performed to investigate the prevalence and to characterize the genetic diversity of Histomonas meleagridis isolates in chickens in southern Vietnam. A total of 194 chickens, randomly selected from 18 backyard and 18 commercial flocks, were screened for H. meleagridis infection using both macroscopic diagnosis and an 18S rRNA gene-based PCR method. Overall, 12.9% of birds, representing 19 flocks, showed gross lesions typical for histomonosis whereas 25.3% of the birds from 29 flocks were positive by PCR assay. Following initial diagnostic approaches, H. meleagridis-positive samples were further analyzed by sequencing three different genomic loci; the 18S rRNA, alpha-actinin1, and rpb1. Thirteen samples from 12 flocks were genetically identified as H. meleagridis, demonstrating a flock and sample prevalence of 33.3% and 6.7%, respectively. There was no significant difference in prevalence between different farm types, age groups, and seasonality. Genetic analysis demonstrated minor heterogeneity of Vietnamese isolates with 99% homology to H. meleagridis sequences from the database. This is the first survey of the prevalence and genetic characterization of H. meleagridis in chickens in Vietnam.
authors.affiliation: A Department of Parasitology, Central Vietnam Veterinary Institute, km4 Dongde Street, Nhatrang City, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Duc Tan
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: B Clinic for Poultry and Fish Medicine, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bilic
authors.affiliation: B Clinic for Poultry and Fish Medicine, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jaskulska
authors.affiliation: B Clinic for Poultry and Fish Medicine, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210, Vienna, Austria.|C Christian Doppler Laboratory for Innovative Poultry Vaccines, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hess
authors.affiliation: A Department of Parasitology, Central Vietnam Veterinary Institute, km4 Dongde Street, Nhatrang City, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Duc Quyet
authors.initials: DQ
authors.lastname: Le
authors.affiliation: A Department of Parasitology, Central Vietnam Veterinary Institute, km4 Dongde Street, Nhatrang City, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Luc Ngoc
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Le Hua
authors.affiliation: A Department of Parasitology, Central Vietnam Veterinary Institute, km4 Dongde Street, Nhatrang City, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Vu Vy
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Huynh
authors.affiliation: A Department of Parasitology, Central Vietnam Veterinary Institute, km4 Dongde Street, Nhatrang City, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Sam Thi
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: D Department of Biotechnology, Central Vietnam Veterinary Institute, km4 Dongde Street, Nhatrang City, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Hung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vu-Khac
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D016834:Trichomonadida / Q000235:genetics*; D014744:Vietnam / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Histomonas meleagridis; Vietnam; chickens; genotyping; prevalence