Background: Enterocytozoon bieneusi is one of the commonest microsporidians contributing to human microsporidiosis, and is frequently found in animals in various countries. However, there is limited epidemiological information on this microorganism in Australia. Here, we undertook the first molecular epidemiological study of E. bieneusi in cats and dogs in Victoria.
Results: Genomic DNAs were extracted from 514 individual faecal deposits from cats (n = 172) and dogs (n = 342) and then tested using PCR-based sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA. Four distinct genotypes (designated D, PtEb IX, VIC_cat1 and VIC_dog1) of E. bieneusi were identified in 20 of the 514 faecal samples (3.9%). Genotype D is known to have a broad host range (humans and other animals) and has a wide geographical distribution around the world. The identification of this genotype here suggests that companion animals might represent reservoir hosts that are able to transmit E. bieneusi infection to humans in Australia. A phylogenetic analysis of ITS sequence data revealed that the novel genotype VIC_cat1 is related to the known genotype type IV within Group 1, and the new genotype VIC_dog1 is linked to a contentious "Group 3", which includes genotypes reported previously in the published literature to represent Group 2 or 3.
Conclusions: A future, large-scale phylogenetic study of all known E. bieneusi genotypes, including VIC_dog1, should aid in clarifying their relationships and assignment to Groups, and in the identification of new genotypes, thus assisting epidemiological investigations.
Keywords: Australia; Cats; Dogs; Enterocytozoon bieneusi; Genotypes; Prevalence.