Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Giardia infection rates and types in pet and stray dogs in Henan China
By Qi, Meng et al.·Published in Parasitology international·2016·Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, China·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Infection rate and genetic diversity of Giardia duodenalis in pet and stray dogs in Henan Province, China.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study found that 14.3% of dogs in Henan Province, China, were infected with Giardia duodenalis, a parasite that can cause diarrhea. Young dogs and those with diarrhea were more likely to test positive for this infection. The researchers collected fecal samples from both pet and stray dogs over several years, and while they identified different genetic types of the parasite, there was no evidence that these strains could be transmitted to humans. This suggests that while Giardia is common in dogs, it may not pose a direct risk to people.
People also search for: dog diarrhea causes · Giardia in dogs treatment · puppy diarrhea infection
Abstract
Giardia duodenalis is an important protozoan parasite that is known to be zoonotic. To assess the potential zoonotic transmission of giardiasis from dogs and to identify genetic diversity of G. duodenalis in dog populations, we examined the infection rate and genotypes of G. duodenalis in both pet dogs (from pet dog farms, pet shops, pet hospitals, pet markets) and stray dogs of different ages in Henan Province, China. A total of 940 fresh fecal specimens were collected from 2007 to 2013 in Henan Province. The overall infection rate of G. duodenalis was 14.3% (134/940) as determined by microscopy, with the highest infection rate (17.3%) observed in dogs from shelters. Young dogs were more likely to be infected with G. duodenalis than adult dogs, and G. duodenalis cysts were found more frequently in diarrheic dogs. All G. duodenalis-positive isolates were characterized at the triose phosphate isomerase (tpi), glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh), and β-giardin (bg) loci, and 37, 51, and 48 sequences were obtained, respectively. The dog-specific assemblages C and D were identified using multi-locus sequence analysis. Six novel sequences of the tpi locus, one novel sequence of the gdh locus and two novel sequences of the bg locus were detected among the G. duodenalis assemblage C isolates, while two novel sequences of the gdh locus were found among the G. duodenalis assemblage D isolates. Our data indicate that G. duodenalis is a common parasite and cause of diarrheal disease in dogs in Henan Province. However, there was no evidence for zoonotic G. duodenalis assemblages in the study population.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26631754/