Acanthamoeba keratitis due to Acanthamoeba genotype T4 in a non-contact-lens wearer in Turkey

Abstract

An otherwise healthy 22-year-old man presented with Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) in the right eye. He was not a contact lens wearer and had no history of corneal trauma. The Acanthamoeba strain isolated from a corneal scraping was identified as morphological group II and genotype T4. Three more Acanthamoeba strains isolated from sites of possible human contact with acanthamoebae in the same geographical region, including a lens storage case, tap water and soil, were subjected to morphological and molecular biological identification. Whereas the strain from tap water also exhibited genotype T4, the two other isolates were identified as morphological group I and genotype T9. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study identifying an AK-causing Acanthamoeba strain in Turkey and the first isolation of genotype T9 in this country.