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The enzootic cycle(s) of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, a tick-transmitted bacterium that causes granulocytic anaplasmosis (GA) in humans (HGA) and certain domesticated animals is driven by the distribution of its vector ticks [...]

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It is examined that synanthropic flies carry cryptosporidium parvum and giardia lamblia acquired from unhygenic sites. A cattle barn and a municipal landfill are tested for these zoonotic parasites that cause diarrhea in humans.

To investigate the potential of wild boars to host Anaplasma phagocytophilum, we analyzed bacterial 16S rRNA and ank genes. DNA sequencing identified several A. phagocytophilum variants, including a predominance of strains known to cause human disease. Boars are thus hosts for A. phagocytophilum, notably, strains associated with human granulocytic anaplasmosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was carried out to determine the role of non-biting synanthropic flies as carriers of Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts in the vicinity of the city of Gdańsk (NE Poland). In 2001-2003, flies were collected from three breeding sites: cow sheds and meadows in the Bystra cattle farm and municipal landfill Szadółki using inhaustors (aspirators) and entomologic nets. A total of 2358 specimens of the families: Muscidae (n = 1598), Calliphoridae (n = 739) and Sarcophagidae (n =21) were collected and analysed in 249 pools consisted of 9.5 insects, in average. Microscopic examination was used to detect Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts in the fly faeces deposited on the glass microscope slides and stained by Zhiel-Nielsen method. The mean number of faecal droplets per one glass slide was 11.5. Ooocysts of Cryptosporidium spp., stained from light pink to bright red, were found in fly faeces deposited on 25 (27.5%) of 91 glass slides checked. The highest prevalence of the pathogen was observed in faecal droplets deposited by flies collected in municipal landfill (50% investigated slides). DNA of Cryptosporidium spp. was extracted from the surface eluants of flies and/or their gut homogenates and purified. Then extracts were examined by PCR using CPB-DIAGF and CPB-DIAGR primers amplifying a variable region SSU-rRNA of all Cryptosporidium species. Altogether 387 isolates, 228 from surfaces and 159 from gut homogenates, were obtained from 249 pools of flies and analyzed. A specific 435 bp fragment of DNA was obtained in 49 (12.7%) lysates tested. In 10.4% pools, DNA of the pathogen was detected only in the surface eluants while in 7.6% only in gut extracts. In the case of two pooled samples (0.8%) Cryptosporidium spp. was found in both types of lysates. In total, Cryptosporidium spp. was detected in 47/249 pools of flies (18.9%). Assumed that each positive pool contained just one infected fly, the percentage of specimens able to oocysts transmission were calculated at the minimal level 2.0% (n = 47/2358). The result confirm that synanthropic flies can harbour oocysts of Cryptosporidium spp. both externally and internally, and disseminate them mechanically in the environment. Therefore, under unsanitary conditions they could be involved in the transmission of human and animal cryptosporidiosis.

Long term field studies and laboratory experiments demonstrated that synanthropic filth flies can mechanically transmit infectious oocysts of Cryptosporidium parvum, an anthropozoonotic protozoan parasite which significantly contributes to the mortality of immunocompromised or immunosuppressed people. C. parvum oocysts are acquired from unhygienic sources, and can pass trough fly gastrointestinal track without alteration of their infectivity and can be subsequently deposited on visited surfaces. Transmission of the oocysts by adult flies occurs via: (1) mechanical dislodgement from the exoskeleton; (2) fecal deposition; and (3) regurgitation, i.e., vomits. Filth flies can cause human or animal cryptosporidiosis via deposition of infectious oocysts on the visited foodstuf, and the biology and ecology of synanthropic filth flies indicate that their potential for mechanical transmission of C. parvum is high.

In the suburban and urban forests in the cities of Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia (northern Poland), Ixodes ricinus ticks should be considered as the vector of pathogenic microorganisms that may cause significant diseases in wild and domestic animals and humans. These microorganisms include etiologic agents of Lyme disease, human anaplasmosis (HA) and babesiosis: Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Babesia microti, respectively. DNA extracts from 701 ticks collected in 15 localities were examined by PCR for the simultaneous detection of these 3 pathogens. Overall, 14 % were infected with A. phagocytophilum followed by 12.4 % with B. burgdorferi s.l. and 2.3 % with B. microti. In total, the percentage of infected females (32.9 %) was 2.4 times higher than in males (13.7 %) and 3.2 times higher than in nymphs (10.3 %). Among adult ticks (n = 303), 8.3 % were dually infected with A. phagocytophilum and B. burgdorferi s.l., 2.0 % with the agent of human anaplasmosis and B. microti and 0.3 % with borreliae and B. microti.

Sera of 500 inhabitants of north-eastern Poland, 450 suspected for Lyme borreliosis and 50 blood donors (control group), were analysed for the presence of IgG antibodies against Anaplasma phagocytophilum, the causative agent of human anaplasmosis (HA), known so far as human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE). Forty one (9.1 %) sera of the study group and one serum (2 %) of the control group were positive using indirect fluorescence assay (IFA). The seropositivity tended to be more frequent among males (10.3 %) than females (7.6 %) and among the rural (10.3 %) than urban population (7.5 %); however, differences were of no statistical significance (p = 0.4). No age difference was found between the seropositive and the seronegative individuals (p = 0.77). The only factor increasing the risk of HA seropositivity found was forestry employment (p < 0.05). Additionally, a total of 559 Ixodes ricinus ticks, collected in the same area as sera, were investigated for the presence of A. phagocytophilum by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and 41 (8.7 %) of them were found to be positive. The infection level ranged from 2.3-13.7 %, depending on the area studied. Bacteria were significantly less frequently detected in nymphs - 2.1 % (5/235) than in adult ticks - 13.6 % (44/324) and in males--4.2 % (74/165) than in females--23.3 % (37/159) (p < or = 0.05). The obtained results confirm both the occurrence of HA foci in north-eastern Poland with I. ricinus as the principal vector of the A. phagocytophilum infection, and forestry workers as the main group at risk.

Prolonged exposure to house dust mites (HDM) of the Pyroglyphidae family leads to the development of perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR) in sensitized subjects. In PAR patients bronchial hyperreactivity--the clinical manifestation of allergic inflammation in the lower airways is often observed. The aim of the study was to estimate the influence of the exposure to HDM in PAR patients on selected functional parameters of the lower airways. The study was performed on 64 patients with PAR caused by allergy to HDM (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Dermatophagoides farinae) without either symptoms of asthma or spirometry abnormalities. The lower airways function was estimated by bronchial histamine provocation test (BHR) and flow-volume spirometry. The house dust mite quantity was measured in dust samples collected in spring and autumn. One sample was assessed by flotation technique with the use of methylene chloride and the mites species were identified (direct method) and the other sample was used to perform the Acarex test (semiquantitative guanine determination test). Positive result of Acarex test was obtained in spring in 72% houses and in autumn in 63%. The predominance of the Pyroglyphidae family was observed in PAR patients' houses. The study showed that the exposure to the allergenic HDM in the quantity higher than 0.6 mg guanine/g dust in autumn implies the increased incidence of both bronchial hyperreactivity and decreased airflow in the small bronchi in control spirometry tests. A strict correlation between the quantity of mites in houses in spring and autumn measured by the direct (flotation method) and the indirect (Acarex) tests was observed. Both methods proved to be equivalent in detecting allergens of house dust mites.