Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 136 in total

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  1. Vythilingam I, Noorazian YM, Huat TC, Jiram AI, Yusri YM, Azahari AH, et al.
    Parasit Vectors, 2008;1(1):26.
    PMID: 18710577 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-1-26
  2. Ahmad NW, Ismail A, Jeffery J, Ibrahim S, Hadi AA, Ibrahim MN, et al.
    Parasit Vectors, 2009;2(1):63.
    PMID: 20003466 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-2-63
    Myiasis is a pathological condition in humans and animals caused by various species of dipterous larvae. Myiasis which occurs in a newborn baby is referred as neonatal myiasis. It is a rare condition and there are only a few reports to date. A case of neonatal aural myiasis in a two day old infant is reported in this paper.
  3. Al-Mekhlafi AM, Mahdy MA, A Azazy A, Fong MY
    Parasit Vectors, 2010 Nov 19;3:110.
    PMID: 21092097 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-3-110
    BACKGROUND: Malaria is an endemic disease in Yemen and is responsible for 4.9 deaths per 100,000 population per year and 43,000 disability adjusted life years lost. Although malaria in Yemen is caused mainly by Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, there are no sequence data available on the two species. This study was conducted to investigate the distribution of the Plasmodium species based on the molecular detection and to study the molecular phylogeny of these parasites.

    METHODS: Blood samples from 511 febrile patients were collected and a partial region of the 18 s ribosomal RNA (18 s rRNA) gene was amplified using nested PCR. From the 86 positive blood samples, 13 Plasmodium falciparum and 4 Plasmodium vivax were selected and underwent cloning and, subsequently, sequencing and the sequences were subjected to phylogenetic analysis using the neighbor-joining and maximum parsimony methods.

    RESULTS: Malaria was detected by PCR in 86 samples (16.8%). The majority of the single infections were caused by P. falciparum (80.3%), followed by P. vivax (5.8%). Mixed infection rates of P. falciparum + P. vivax and P. falciparum + P. malariae were 11.6% and 2.3%, respectively. All P. falciparum isolates were grouped with the strain 3D7, while P. vivax isolates were grouped with the strain Salvador1. Phylogenetic trees based on 18 s rRNA placed the P. falciparum isolates into three sub-clusters and P. vivax into one cluster. Sequence alignment analysis showed 5-14.8% SNP in the partial sequences of the 18 s rRNA of P. falciparum.

    CONCLUSIONS: Although P. falciparum is predominant, P. vivax, P. malariae and mixed infections are more prevalent than has been revealed by microscopy. This overlooked distribution should be considered by malaria control strategy makers. The genetic polymorphisms warrant further investigation.

  4. Al-Mekhlafi AM, Mahdy MA, Al-Mekhlafi HM, Azazy AA, Fong MY
    Parasit Vectors, 2011;4:94.
    PMID: 21619624 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-4-94
    Malaria remains a significant health problem in Yemen with Plasmodium falciparum being the predominant species which is responsible for 90% of the malaria cases. Despite serious concerns regarding increasing drug resistance, chloroquine is still used for the prevention and treatment of malaria in Yemen. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of choloroquine resistance (CQR) of P. falciparum isolated from Yemen based on the pfcrt T76 mutation.
  5. Ahmed A, Al-Mekhlafi HM, Choy SH, Ithoi I, Al-Adhroey AH, Abdulsalam AM, et al.
    Parasit Vectors, 2011;4:242.
    PMID: 22208559 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-4-242
    Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections, among the most common neglected tropical diseases, continue to be a major threat to the health and socioeconomic wellbeing of infected people especially children in developing countries.
  6. Atroosh WM, Al-Mekhlafi HM, Mahdy MA, Saif-Ali R, Al-Mekhlafi AM, Surin J
    Parasit Vectors, 2011;4:233.
    PMID: 22166488 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-4-233
    Malaria is still a public health problem in Malaysia especially in the interior parts of Peninsular Malaysia and the states of Sabah and Sarawak (East Malaysia). This is the first study on the genetic diversity and genotype multiplicity of Plasmodium falciparum in Malaysia.
  7. Freeman MA, Sommerville C
    Parasit Vectors, 2011;4:231.
    PMID: 22166354 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-4-231
    A microsporidian hyperparasite, Desmozoon lepeophtherii, of the parasitic copepod Lepeophtheirus salmonis (salmon louse), infecting farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), was first discovered in the west of Scotland in 2000. Heavily infected salmon lice are easily recognised as they have large opaque inclusions distributed throughout the body. The prevalence of salmon lice with visible signs of microsporidiosis can be up to 10% of the population from certain farm sites. The microsporidian was also isolated from the host Atlantic salmon suggesting it may have a two host life cycle. The authors believe that the infection in immunocompetent salmon may be latent, becoming acute during periods of infection with another pathogen or during sexual maturation. Since its first discovery in Scotland, Desmozoon lepeophtherii has been subsequently reported from Norway, and more recently from the Pacific coast of North America.
  8. Freeman MA, Shinn AP
    Parasit Vectors, 2011;4:220.
    PMID: 22115202 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-4-220
    Myxosporeans are known from aquatic annelids but parasitism of platyhelminths by myxosporeans has not been widely reported. Hyperparasitism of gill monogeneans by Myxidium giardi has been reported from the European eel and Myxidium-like hyperparasites have also been observed during studies of gill monogeneans from Malaysia and Japan.The present study aimed to collect new hyperparasite material from Malaysia for morphological and molecular descriptions. In addition, PCR screening of host fish was undertaken to determine whether they are also hosts for the myxosporean.
  9. Freeman MA, Eydal M, Yoshimizu M, Watanabe K, Shinn AP, Miura K, et al.
    Parasit Vectors, 2011;4:15.
    PMID: 21299903 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-4-15
    Epidermal pseudotumours from Hippoglossoides dubius and Acanthogobius flavimanus in Japan and gill lesions in Limanda limanda from the UK have been shown to be caused by phylogenetically related protozoan parasites, known collectively as X-cells. However, the phylogenetic position of the X-cell group is not well supported within any of the existing protozoan phyla and they are currently thought to be members of the Alveolata.Ultrastructural features of X-cells in fish pseudotumours are somewhat limited and no typical environmental stages, such as spores or flagellated cells, have been observed. The life cycles for these parasites have not been demonstrated and it remains unknown how transmission to a new host occurs. In the present study, pseudobranchial pseudotumours from Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, in Iceland and epidermal pseudotumours from the northern black flounder, Pseudopleuronectes obscurus, in Japan were used in experimental transmission studies to establish whether direct transmission of the parasite is achievable. In addition, X-cells from Atlantic cod were sequenced to confirm whether they are phylogenetically related to other X-cells and epidermal pseudotumours from the northern black flounder were analysed to establish whether the same parasite is responsible for infecting different flatfish species in Japan.
  10. Mohd Zain SN, Behnke JM, Lewis JW
    Parasit Vectors, 2012 Mar 07;5:47.
    PMID: 22397763 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-5-47
    BACKGROUND: The prevalence of parasitic infections among commensal animals such as black and brown rats in many tropical countries is high and in comparison with studies on rodents in temperate climates, little is known about the community structure of their parasites. Rodent borne parasites pose threats to human health since people living in close proximity to rodent populations can be exposed to infection.

    METHODS: The helminth community structures of two urban rat populations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were investigated. The rats were from two contrasting sites in the city caught over a period of 21 months in 2000-2002.

    RESULTS: Eleven species of helminth parasites comprising seven nematodes (Heterakis spumosum, Mastophorus muris, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, Syphacia muris, Pterygodermatites tani/whartoni, Gongylonema neoplasticum, Angiostrongylus malaysiensis), three cestodes (Hymenolepis (Rodentolepis) nana, H. diminuta and Taenia taeniaeformis) and one acanthocephalan (Moniliformis moniliformis) were recovered from 346 Rattus rattus and 104 R. norvegicus from two urban sites, Bangsar and Chow Kit, during 2000-2002. Rattus rattus harboured over 60% of all helminths compared with R. norvegicus, although both host species played a dominant role in the different sites with, for example R. norvegicus at Bangsar and R. rattus at Chow Kit accounting for most of the nematodes. Overall 80% of rats carried at least one species of helminth, with the highest prevalences being shown by H. diminuta (35%), H. spumosum (29.8%) and H. nana (28.4%). Nevertheless, there were marked differences in prevalence rates between sites and hosts. The influence of extrinsic (year, season and site) and intrinsic (species, sex and age) factors affecting infracommunity structure (abundance and prevalence of infection) and measures of component community structure were analyzed.

    CONCLUSIONS: Since at least two species of rat borne helminths in Kuala Lumpur have the potential to infect humans, and these showed high prevalences in the rats, the assessment and regular monitoring of infections carried by wild rodents have important roles to play in public health.

  11. Ahmed A, Al-Mekhlafi HM, Al-Adhroey AH, Ithoi I, Abdulsalam AM, Surin J
    Parasit Vectors, 2012;5:119.
    PMID: 22704549 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-5-119
    Soil-transmitted helminths (STH) infections, anaemia and malnutrition are major public health problems in school-age children in developing countries. This study was conducted on 289 Orang Asli (aboriginal) schoolchildren in order to assess the current prevalence and predictors of anaemia and malnutrition, as well as the nutritional impacts of STH infections among these children.
  12. Lee LI, Chye TT, Karmacharya BM, Govind SK
    Parasit Vectors, 2012;5:130.
    PMID: 22741573 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-5-130
    Blastocystis sp. is a common intestinal parasite found in faecal sample surveys. Several studies have implicated human-to-human, zoonotic and waterborne transmissions by Blastocystis sp. However, there has been no study providing evidence interlinking these three transmissions in a community. We have previously shown a high prevalence of Blastocystis sp. subtype 4 amongst village dwellers in Bahunipati, Nepal, and the present study extends the observation to assess if the same subtype of Blastocystis sp. occurs in animals they rear and rivers they frequent.
  13. Mahdy MA, Lim YA, Ngui R, Siti Fatimah MR, Choy SH, Yap NJ, et al.
    Parasit Vectors, 2012;5:88.
    PMID: 22564445 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-5-88
    Canine hookworm infection is endemic in Southeast Asian countries with a prevalence ranging from 70% to 100%, with zoonotic transmission representing a potentially significant public health concern. However, there are limited data available on the prevalence of canine hookworms in Malaysia. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of hookworm and Ancylostoma species among dogs in Malaysia.
  14. Ngui R, Angal L, Fakhrurrazi SA, Lian YL, Ling LY, Ibrahim J, et al.
    Parasit Vectors, 2012;5:187.
    PMID: 22947430
    In this study, a total of 426 human faecal samples were examined for the presence of Entamoeba histolytica, Entamoeba dispar, Entamoeba moshkovskii infection via a combination of microscopic examination and nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting 16S ribosomal RNA of Entamoeba species.
  15. Olival KJ, Dick CW, Simmons NB, Morales JC, Melnick DJ, Dittmar K, et al.
    Parasit Vectors, 2013 Aug 08;6:231.
    PMID: 23924629 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-6-231
    BACKGROUND: Population-level studies of parasites have the potential to elucidate patterns of host movement and cross-species interactions that are not evident from host genealogy alone. Bat flies are obligate and generally host-specific blood-feeding parasites of bats. Old-World flies in the family Nycteribiidae are entirely wingless and depend on their hosts for long-distance dispersal; their population genetics has been unstudied to date.

    METHODS: We collected a total of 125 bat flies from three Pteropus species (Pteropus vampyrus, P. hypomelanus, and P. lylei) from eight localities in Malaysia, Cambodia, and Vietnam. We identified specimens morphologically and then sequenced three mitochondrial DNA gene fragments (CoI, CoII, cytB; 1744 basepairs total) from a subset of 45 bat flies. We measured genetic diversity, molecular variance, and population genetic subdivision (FST), and used phylogenetic and haplotype network analyses to quantify parasite genetic structure across host species and localities.

    RESULTS: All flies were identified as Cyclopodia horsfieldi with the exception of two individuals of Eucampsipoda sundaica. Low levels of population genetic structure were detected between populations of Cyclopodia horsfieldi from across a wide geographic range (~1000 km), and tests for isolation by distance were rejected. AMOVA results support a lack of geographic and host-specific population structure, with molecular variance primarily partitioned within populations. Pairwise FST values from flies collected from island populations of Pteropus hypomelanus in East and West Peninsular Malaysia supported predictions based on previous studies of host genetic structure.

    CONCLUSIONS: The lack of population genetic structure and morphological variation observed in Cyclopodia horsfieldi is most likely due to frequent contact between flying fox species and subsequent high levels of parasite gene flow. Specifically, we suggest that Pteropus vampyrus may facilitate movement of bat flies between the three Pteropus species in the region. We demonstrate the utility of parasite genetics as an additional layer of information to measure host movement and interspecific host contact. These approaches may have wide implications for understanding zoonotic, epizootic, and enzootic disease dynamics. Bat flies may play a role as vectors of disease in bats, and their competence as vectors of bacterial and/or viral pathogens is in need of further investigation.

  16. Lau YL, Chang PY, Subramaniam V, Ng YH, Mahmud R, Ahmad AF, et al.
    Parasit Vectors, 2013 Sep 09;6(1):257.
    PMID: 24010903 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-6-257
    BACKGROUND: Sarcocystis species are protozoan parasites with a wide host range including snakes. Although there were several reports of Sarcocytis species in snakes, their distribution and prevalence are still not fully explored.

    METHODS: In this study, fecal specimens of several snake species in Malaysia were examined for the presence of Sarcocystis by PCR of 18S rDNA sequence. Microscopy examination of the fecal specimens for sporocysts was not carried as it was difficult to determine the species of the infecting Sarcocystis.

    RESULTS: Of the 28 snake fecal specimens, 7 were positive by PCR. BLASTn and phylogenetic analyses of the amplified 18S rDNA sequences revealed the snakes were infected with either S. nesbitti, S. singaporensis, S. zuoi or undefined Sarcocystis species.

    CONCLUSION: This study is the first to report Sarcocystis infection in a cobra, and S. nesbitti in a reticulated python.

  17. Yin F, Gasser RB, Li F, Bao M, Huang W, Zou F, et al.
    Parasit Vectors, 2013 Sep 25;6(1):279.
    PMID: 24499637 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-6-279
    BACKGROUND: Haemonchus contortus (order Strongylida) is a common parasitic nematode infecting small ruminants and causing significant economic losses worldwide. Knowledge of genetic variation within and among H. contortus populations can provide a foundation for understanding transmission patterns, the spread of drug resistance alleles and might assist in the control of haemonchosis.

    METHODS: 152 H. contortus individual adult worms were collected from seven different geographical regions in China. The second internal transcribed spacer (ITS-2) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA and mitochondrial nicotinamide dehydrogenase subunit 4 gene (nad4) were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced directly. The sequence variations and population genetic diversities were determined.

    RESULTS: Nucleotide sequence analyses revealed 18 genotypes (ITS-2) and 142 haplotypes (nad4) among the 152 worms, with nucleotide diversities of 2.6% and 0.027, respectively, consistent with previous reports from other countries, including Australia, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Sweden, the USA and Yemen. Population genetic analyses revealed that 92.4% of nucleotide variation was partitioned within populations; there was no genetic differentiation but a high gene flow among Chinese populations; some degree of genetic differentiation was inferred between some specimens from China and those from other countries.

    CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study of genetic variation within H. contortus in China. The results revealed high within-population variations, low genetic differentiation and high gene flow among different populations of H. contortus in China. The present results could have implications for studying the epidemiology and ecology of H. contortus in China.

  18. Rajamanikam A, Govind SK
    Parasit Vectors, 2013;6(1):295.
    PMID: 24499467 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-6-295
    Blastocystis spp. are one of the most prevalent parasites isolated from patients suffering from diarrhea, flatulence, constipation and vomiting. It's pathogenicity and pathophysiology remains controversial to date. Protease activity and amoebic forms have been reported previously in symptomatic isolates but there has been no conclusive evidence provided to correlate the protease activity and any specific life cycle stage of the parasite thus far.
  19. Freeman MA, Anshary H, Ogawa K
    Parasit Vectors, 2013;6(1):336.
    PMID: 24286135 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-6-336
    The Caligidae is a family of parasitic copepods containing over 30 recognised genera. They are commercially important parasites as they cause disease in numerous finfish aquaculture facilities globally. Morphological features are used to distinguish between the genera and Pseudocaligus has traditionally been differentiated from Caligus solely by the presence of a much reduced form of the fourth thoracic leg. Currently there are numerous DNA sequences available for Caligus spp. but only the type species, Pseudocaligus brevipedis, has molecular data available, so systematic studies using molecular phylogenetic analyses have been limited.
  20. Muslim A, Fong MY, Mahmud R, Lau YL, Sivanandam S
    Parasit Vectors, 2013;6:219.
    PMID: 23898840 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-6-219
    In 2011, we reported occurrence of natural human infections with Brugia pahangi, a filarial worm of dogs and cats, in a surburb of Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. Our preliminary entomological survey at that time suggested the mosquito species Armigeres subalbatus as the vector of the zoonotic infections. In this present report, we provide biological evidence to confirm our preliminary finding.
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