Abstract
Enterocytozoon bieneusi is the most common microsporidia in humans worldwide, in addition to infecting a wide range of animals. However, there is limited information about this pathogen in children in Egypt. Here, we carried out a molecular epidemiological study of E. bieneusi in child care centers in three provinces in Egypt. Altogether, 585 fresh fecal samples were collected from children attending 18 child care centers in El-Dakahlia, El-Gharbia, and Damietta provinces in Northeast Egypt during March 2015 to April 2016. PCR and sequence analyses of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) were used to detect and genotype E. bieneusi. Twenty-seven fecal samples (4.6%, 27/585) were positive for E. bieneusi. Five genotypes were identified, including type IV (n = 13), Peru8 (n = 9), Peru6 (n = 2), Peru11 (n = 2), and D (n = 1). Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the five genotypes of E. bieneusi detected in this study were clustered into zoonotic group 1. These data provide important information on the prevalence and genetic diversity of E. bieneusi in children in this country. Further epidemiological studies should be conducted to elucidate the role of zoonotic transmission in human E. bieneusi infections.
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The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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This study was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31820103014), 111 Project (D20008), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Doaa Naguib and Lihua Xiao conceived the idea of the study and designed the study protocol. Nagah Arafat collected data and samples. Doaa Naguib performed laboratory investigations. Doaa Naguib and Lihua Xiao analyzed data and drafted the manuscript. Dawn M. Roellig and Lihua Xiao supervised the work. All authors revised the final draft of the submitted manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt. All parents or guardians of the children were informed of the objective of the survey and were asked to voluntarily participate in the study. Informed consent was obtained from the legal guardians of the participants before the sample and data collection.
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Naguib, D., Roellig, D.M., Arafat, N. et al. Prevalence and genetic characterization of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in children in Northeast Egypt. Parasitol Res 121, 2087–2092 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07546-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07546-z