Prevalence of Giardia duodenalis infection and genotyping of isolates in puppies housed in kennels of central Italy

Aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence, genotypes and associated risk factors for Giardia duodenalis infection occurring in puppies housed in kennels. The study was conducted on 127 puppies housed in 3 different public kennels (C-1, C-2, C-3). Individual faecal samples were collected and screened by a commercially available DFA test; genomic DNA was extracted from the DFA positive samples and amplified at 16s-rRNA and at P-giardin protein loci. G. duodenalis was identified in 49 of the 127 puppies analyzed (38.58%); Giardia-positive puppies were more prevalent amongst those kept in multiple than individual box, and those kennelled since more than 21 days. Twenty two of the DFA positive samples were successfully amplified at both loci whereas 14 samples only at 16s-rRNA locus. The sequence analysis of 16s-rRNA fragments showed that 31 isolates exibited an high homology with G. duodenalis dog-specific genotype D, 4 with genotype C and 1 with genotype A; RFLP and sequence analysis applied to the beta-giardin fragments allowed also to identify two mix infections (A-I, D). Despite the low prevalence of zoonotic genotypes, public health implications of Giardia infection in kennelled puppies deserve attention since they represent an important source of new pets for households.