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368186

Molecular survey of Babesia microti, a causative agent of human babesiosis, in rodents in Egypt

Article

Last updated: 03 Jan 2025

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Miscellaneous

Abstract

In Egypt, to date and to the best of our knowledge, two cases of human babesiosis have been reported; at the same time, very few surveys for detection of B. microti in rodents have been published. These studies were solely relied on microscopic examination of stained blood smears; hence, the molecular confirmative evidence for the presence of B. microti is not revealed. In addition, the epidemiology of human babesiosis, such as competent vectors and reservoirs is still unclear. The present study is a molecular survey of B. microti in wild Egyptian rodents. A total of 30 rodents (26 Rattus norvegicus and 4 Rattus rattus) were collected from different areas in Giza Governorate and tested for Babesia-specific DNA. Nested PCR targeting 18S rRNA gene marker was used to detect the agent in  rodents blood. Positive amplification of 154- bp fragment was detected in 8 (30.8%) R. norvegicus and 1 (25%) R. rattus with atotal prevalence rate of 30%. Unidentified Babesia was detected in 3 rodents (2 R norvegicus and 1 R. rattus) when tested using standard PCR with genus-specific primers. These 3 rodents yielded negative for B. microti. Significant correlation (P<0.05) between positivity to B. microti and splenomegaly was _ found. The difference between the positive rates for B. microti in R. norvegicus and in R. rattus was also revealed to be significant (P<0.05). This study is considered to be the first molecular survey of B. microti in Egyptian rodents.These findings confirm the presence of one of the causative agents of human babesiosis in the country with a relative high prevalence among the suspected reservoir host that warrants more risk for human infections.

DOI

10.21608/vmjg.2010.368186

Keywords

Human babesiosis, Babseia microtti, Rodents, Rattus norvegicus, Rattus rattus, Molecular survey, nested PCR

Authors

First Name

Ghafar

Last Name

W

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Zoonoses, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

Email

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City

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Orcid

-

First Name

Nadia

Last Name

Eltablawy

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Biochemistry Division, National Organization for Drug Control and Research (NODCAR), El-Haram, Giza, Egypt.

Email

-

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Badawi

Last Name

M

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Biochemistry Division, National Organization for Drug Control and Research (NODCAR), El-Haram, Giza, Egypt.

Email

-

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Abd El-Aty

Last Name

M

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.

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-

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

58

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

49151

Issue Date

2010-04-01

Receive Date

2024-07-19

Publish Date

2010-04-01

Page Start

123

Page End

125

Print ISSN

1110-1423

Online ISSN

2537-1045

Link

https://vmjg.journals.ekb.eg/article_368186.html

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https://vmjg.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=368186

Order

368,186

Type

Original Article

Type Code

544

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Veterinary Medical Journal (Giza)

Publication Link

https://vmjg.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Molecular survey of Babesia microti, a causative agent of human babesiosis, in rodents in Egypt

Details

Type

Article

Created At

23 Dec 2024