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Isolation and identification of Acanthamoeba spp. from thermal swimming pools and spas in Southern Brazil

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Abstract

Free-living amoebae (FLA) are widely distributed in soil and water. A few number of them are implicated in human disease: Acanthamoeba spp., Naegleria fowleri, Balamuthia mandrillaris and Sappinia diploidea. Species of Acanthamoeba can cause keratitis and brain infections. In this study, 72 water samples were taken from both hot tubs and thermal swimming pools in the city of Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil, to determine the presence of Acanthamoeba in the water as well as perform the phenotypic and genotypic characterization of the isolates. The identification of the isolates was based on the cysts morphology and PCR amplification using genus-specific oligonucleotides. When the isolates were submitted to PCR reaction only 8 were confirmed as belonging to the genus Acanthamoeba. The sequences analysis when compared to the sequences in the GenBank, showed genotype distribution in group T3 (12,5%), T5 (12,5%), T4 (25%) and T15 (50%). The results of this study confirmed the presence of potentially pathogenic isolates of free living amoebae in hot swimming pool and spas which can present risks to human health.

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  1. Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Setor de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Sarmento Leite Street, N 500, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, 90050-170, Brasil

    Laura Fuhrich Fabres, Sayonara Peixoto Rosa dos Santos & Marilise Brittes Rott

  2. Departamento de Biologia e Farmácia da Universidade de Santa Cruz do Sul, Santa Cruz, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

    Lisianne Brittes Benitez

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  1. Laura Fuhrich Fabres
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  2. Sayonara Peixoto Rosa dos Santos
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  3. Lisianne Brittes Benitez
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Correspondence to Marilise Brittes Rott.

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Fabres, L.F., Rosa dos Santos, S.P., Benitez, L.B. et al. Isolation and identification of Acanthamoeba spp. from thermal swimming pools and spas in Southern Brazil. Acta Parasit. 61, 221–227 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1515/ap-2016-0031

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