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Enterocytozoon bieneusi was detected in dogs in Bogota, Colombia for the first time. Of 120 dogs, 15% were positive by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Infected dogs ranged from 2 to 14 years of age, and more male than female dogs were infected with E. bieneusi (20% versus 5%). All PCR-positive specimens were sequenced and three genotypes were identified. A dog-specific genotype (PtEbIX) was identified in feces from 16 dogs. For two dogs, the nucleotide sequences obtained were genetically identical to the E. bieneusi Peru 5 and K genotypes previously reported as human pathogens. This is the first time that Peru 5 and K genotypes have been identified in dogs. This study confirms that dogs are infected with both human pathogenic and host-specific genotypes.
Received January 8, 2008. Accepted for publication May 5, 2008.
* Address correspondence to Mónica Santín, Environmental Microbial Safety Laboratory, Animal and Natural Resources Institute, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, 10300 Baltimore Avenue, BARC-East, Building 173, Beltsville, MD 20705. E-mail: monica-santin-duran{at}ars.usda.gov
Authors addresses: Mónica Santín and Ronald Fayer, Environmental Microbial Safety Laboratory, Animal and Natural Resources Institute, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Building 173, BARC-East, 10300 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD 20705. Jesús A. Cortés Vecino, Laboratorio de Parasitología, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y de Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia-Sede Bogotá, Colombia.
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