SUMMARY
Rodents, globally overpopulated, are important source for zoonotic
disease transmission to humans, including Enterocytozoon bieneusi(one of the most prevalent zoonotic pathogen). Here, we studied
the prevalence and performed genetic analysis of E. bieneusi in
rodents from the Hainan province of China. Six hundred and three fresh
fecal samples were gathered from 369 wild rats, 117 bamboo rats, 93
Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine and 24 red-bellied squirrels. Species of
the wild rats identification was done by the amplification of a 421 bp
region of the cytb gene in the fecal DNA using PCR. Genotype
analysis was done by the amplification of the internal transcribed
spacer (ITS) region of rDNA of E. bieneusi using PCR. Seven wild
rat species, including Asian house rats (Rattus tanezumi ) (n =
134), brown rats (Rattus norveqicus ) (n = 56), Chinese
white-bellied rats (Niviventer confucianus ) (n = 51), Edward’s
long tailed rats (Leopoldamys edwardsi ) (n = 38), Indo-Chinese
forest rats (Rattus andamanensis ) (n = 54), lesser rice-field rat
(Rattus losea ) (n = 44) and muridae (Niviventer
fulvescens ) (n = 10) were identified. The average rate of infection ofE. bieneusi was 15.8% (95/603) with 18.7% (69/369) in wild
rats, 11.9% (25/210) in farmed rodents and 4.2% (1/24) for red-bellied
squirrels. Sixteen E. bieneusi genotypes were identified,
including nine known genotypes (D, Type IV, PigEBITS7, Peru8, Peru11,
ESH02, S7, EbpA and CHG5), and seven novel genotypes (HNR-I to HNR-VII).
Genotype D (44.2%, 42/95) predominated, followed by PigEBITS7 (20.0%,
19/95), HNR-VII (15.8%, 15/95), Type IV (5.3%, 5/95), HNR-III (2.1%,
2/95), HNR-VI (2.1%, 2/95) and each of the remaining 10 genotypes
(1.1%, 1/95). This is the first report on the identification ofE. bieneusi in rodents from Hainan, China. The zoonotic potential
of the identified E. bieneusi genotypes suggested that the
rodents posed a serious threat to the local inhabitants. Thus, measures
need to be taken to control the population of wild rats in the areas
investigated in this study, along with identification of safe methods of
disposal of farmed rodent feces. Additionally, the local people should
be made aware of the risk of disease transmission from rodents to
humans.
KEYWORDS : Enterocytozoon bieneusi , rodent, genotype,
ITS, zoonotic