First report of [i]Enterocytozoon[/i] bieneusi and [i]Encephalitozoon intestinalis[/i] infection of wild mice in Slovakia

Abstract

Increased risk of zoonotic transmission of the potential human pathogenic species [i]Enterocytozoon bieneusi[/i], [i]Encephalitozoon intestinalis[/i] and [i]Encephalitozoon cuniculi [/i]was detected in wild immunocompetent mice (Mus musculus musculus; n=280). Analysis was conducted with the use of PMP1/PMP2 primers and SYBR Green RT-PCR. Using Real Time PCR and comparing the sequences with sequences in the GenBank, [i]E. bieneusi[/i] was detected in 3 samples (1.07 %), [i]E. cuniculi [/i]in 1 sample (0.35 %) and [i]E. intestinalis[/i] in 1 sample (0.35 %). The results of this report document the low host specificity of detected microsporidia species, and imply the importance of synanthropic rodents as a potential source of human microsporidial infection.

Keywords

• zoonotic potencial;[i]Encephalitozoon cuniculi[i];[i]Encephalitozoon intestinalis[i];[i]Enterocytozoon bieneusi[i];Microsporidia;Mice