Novel isolate of Cysticercus tenuicollis-Kalar isolate has been revealed in Kalar, Iraq.

INTRODUCTION: Although Cysticercus tenuicollis is one of the most economic and veterinary important parasite in Iraq, scanty molecular characterization exists for this helminth. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and molecular description of C. tenuicollis isolates from sheep in Kalar district of Iraq. METHODOLOGY: A total of 2,906 slaughtered sheep were examined post-mortem. Up to 20 samples of C. tenuicollis was extracted and amplified using mitochondrial COX1 gene. RESULTS: The overall prevalence rate was 6.88%, and female sheep recorded higher rate of infection (24.35%) than male (6.16%) with significant difference (p<0.05). The molecular results showed 14 haplotypes for COX1 gene and the pairwise nucleotide variation among them was ranged from 0.2 to 2.6%. Twelve out of fourteen haplotypes of C. tenuicollis involving one to three base mutations were discovered in Kalar, Iraq for the first time and this could be a unique mutation internationally and did not registered previously. Eleven newly recorded haplotypes involved only one single mutation and the remaining one involved three mutations. Phylogenetic interpretation showed that Cysticercus tenuicollis-Kalar isolate were clustered in one clade, and closely related to isolates discovered in Nigeria, China, Turkey, Poland, and Iran. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided a new record data on prevalence and discovered novel strains of C. tenuicollis in the study area for the first time named Cysticercus tenuicollis-Kalar isolate. Novel haplotypes might consider endemic genetic characterization of this metacestode. The present data may be useful to provide a good molecular background for future preventive and control programs.

The ß-lactamase profile of Escherichia coli isolates from patients with urinary tract infections in Teaching Hospital in Sulaimani, Iraq.

Escherichia coli bearing ß-lactamase resistance genes are a leading cause of developing multi-drug resistance. The aim of this work was to study the molecular characterization and genotypic pattern of ß-lactamase resistance genes in Escherichia coli. In total, 203 urine samples of patients who have symptoms of urinary tract infections (UTI) were screened to isolate E. coli and characterize resistance genes. Out of 203 patients, 32 (15.7%) cases were infected with E. coli. All E. coli samples showed a complete resistance against many antibiotics, including tetracycline (100%), rifampin (100%), and gentamycin (100%), but recorded the lowest resistance rate against imipenem (12.5%). Based on the existence of one or more gene of the chuA, yjaA and DNA fragment TSPE4.C2, E. coli is classified under three phylogenetic groups, A, B1, B2, and D. The highest rate of pathogenic E. coli was characterized under phylogenetic groups B2 (37.5%), and D (34.3%). Fifty ß-lactamase resistance genes were recovered in this study and some isolates harbored more than one resistance genes. Among them, blaCTX recorded the highest rate, 27 (84.3%), while none of the isolates was detected to bear blaSHV resistance gene. Among five blaCMY genes, three different variants were revealed via sequencing and phylogenetic tree. Two mutations were found in one isolate at position 65 and 566, and three mutations were detected in another isolate at position number 413, 574 and 584, in comparison to a wild type variant. In conclusion, it was revealed that 15.7% cases of urinary tract infections were caused by E. coli. E. coli isolates were completely resistant to many antibiotics, but they were more sensitive to imipenem. Among the fifty ß-lactamase resistance genes recovered in this study, blaCTX was the most common gene. There were three variants among blaCMY genes in a single area of study.