Abstract
Blastocystis is a unicellular, anaerobic protist inhabiting the intestinal tract of diverse animal hosts, including human. Information regarding Blastocystis in small ruminants, namely goats and sheep, is limited globally; thus, this study was carried out to investigate the distribution and determinants of Blastocystis in ruminant livestock animals from Penang, Malaysia. Fecal samples from 127 cattle, 149 goats, and 100 sheep were examined for Blastocystis by in vitro cultivation using modified Jones’ medium, while DNA barcoding was used for subtyping. Overall, 23.1% (87/376) of animals screened were positive for Blastocystis sp. The prevalence of infection was significantly higher in goats than in cattle and sheep, while the female gender, semi-intensive farming system, and the Northeast Penang Island district were identified as potential risk factors for Blastocystis infection. Blastocystis sp. ST5, ST14, and ST25 were identified in cattle; ST5, ST10, ST13, and ST14 in goats; and ST4, ST5, ST14, and ST15 in sheep. ST5 and ST14 were found to be the most abundant and widespread subtypes in the study area. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of ST4 from sheep and ST13 from goats, thus serving as an update to the host range of Blastocystis sp. ST4 and ST13. The isolation of ST4 and ST5 in this study suggests that ruminant livestock animals could serve as reservoirs of human infection.
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Data availability
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this article. The newly generated sequences were deposited in the GenBank database under the accession numbers ON738374-ON738382, ON738385-ON738404, and ON738409-ON738418.
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The authors would also like to thank the members of staff of the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS), Penang, for their tremendous assistance rendered during sampling.
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This research was supported by Universiti Sains Malaysia (Short Term Grant: 304/PBIOLOGI/6315156 and Incentive Grant 2020: 1001.PBIOLOGI.AUPS001), and Short Term Grants of UniSHAMS (100–161(RMU)01/STG/2020 Bil. (64)).
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Farah Haziqah Meor Termizi, Ii Li. Lee, and Nurshafarina Shaari conceived and designed the study. Adedolapo Aminat Rauff-Adedotun and Nabilah Abd Talib conducted sampling. Adedolapo Aminat Rauff-Adedotun carried out laboratory works. Adedolapo Aminat Rauff-Adedotun analyzed and interpreted the data, and wrote the article Farah Haziqah Meor Termizi, Ii Li Lee, Nurshafarina Shaari, and Zary Shariman Yahaya revised the article. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Rauff-Adedotun, A.A., Lee, I.L., Abd Talib, N. et al. Prevalence, potential risk factors and genetic diversity of Blastocystis in ruminant livestock animals from Penang, Malaysia. Parasitol Res 122, 2193–2205 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-023-07920-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-023-07920-5