ABSTRACT
Pentatrichomonas hominis is considered a commensal protozoan in the large intestine of a number of mammalian hosts, such as cats, dogs, and non-human primates. The resulting infections, which can induce diarrhea, have been attributed to opportunistic overgrowth of P. hominis. This study was performed to confirm the P. hominis infection and its molecular characterization from the feces of puppies with diarrhea. Fecal samples were obtained from 14 German shepherd puppies with diarrhea over 1 week (7 females and 7 males, 2-9 months of age) residing on a dog farm in August 2007. Species-specific PCR assay identified P. hominis 18S rRNA genes in 3 of the 14 puppies (1 female and 2 males; 1 aged 2 months and 2 aged 9 months). This phylogenetic analysis established that P. hominis belonged to the 1st clade, which is comprised of Bos taurus and Felines.
Subject(s)
Animals , Dogs , Female , Male , Base Sequence , Cluster Analysis , DNA, Protozoan/chemistry , DNA, Ribosomal/chemistry , Diarrhea/parasitology , Dog Diseases/parasitology , Feces/parasitology , Genes, rRNA , Molecular Sequence Data , Phylogeny , Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , Protozoan Infections, Animal/parasitology , RNA, Protozoan/genetics , RNA, Ribosomal, 18S/genetics , Republic of Korea , Sequence Analysis, DNA , Sequence Homology , Trichomonadida/classificationABSTRACT
This study was performed to investigate prevalence of clonorchiasis among the inhabitants living in villages along the 4 major rivers, Nakdong-gang (= river), Seomjin-gang, Youngsan-gang, and Guem-gang in southern Korea. From January to December 2006, a total of 24,075 stool samples (1 sample per an inhabitant) were collected in 23 localities and examined by the formalin-ether sedimentation technique. Of the inhabitants examined, 3,441 (14.3%) were found to harbor various types of intestinal parasite eggs, cysts or larvae. Numbers of infected people were 2,661 (11.1%) for Clonorchis sinensis, 431 (1.8%) for heterophyids, 226 (0.9%) for Entamoeba spp., 57 (0.2%) for Giardia lamblia, 30 (0.1%) for Trichuris trichiura, and 18 (0.07%) for echinostomes. Prevalence rates of clonorchiasis according to the river basin were 17.1% in Nakdong-gang, 11.2% in Seomjin-gang, 5.5% in Youngsan-gang and 4.6% in Guem-gang. Of the 2,661 C. sinensis egg-positive cases, 57.7% was male. The present findings suggest that clonorchiasis is still highly prevalent among inhabitants in the riverside areas of southern Korea, and it is necessary to implement a systematic control program in the endemic areas.