Detection of Giardia intestinalis assemblages A, B and D in domestic cats from Warsaw, Poland

Giardia intestinalis is a complex species divided into 7 assemblages (A - G). Two of them (A and B) are infective for both humans and animals. In cats four assemblages can occur: A, B, D, and F Assemblages A and B infect either cats, dogs and humans, assemblage D infects cats and dogs and assemblage F only cats. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and genotypes of G. intestinalis in cats from Warsaw. From November 2006 to March 2007 a hundred sixty samples of stool were collected and examined by light microscopy. G. intestinalis cysts were detected in 3.75% of samples. DNA extracted from positive samples was used as template for PCR-RFLP using Giardia specific primers and the amplicons were sequenced. A comparison of the obtained DNA sequences with the Giardia sequences in the GeneBank database revealed assemblage A in 1.25% of the investigated cats, assemblage B in 1.25% and D in 1.25%.