Molecular characterization of Giardia duodenalis and evidence for cross‐species transmission in Northern Argentina

Abstract

Anthropogenic activities, such as human population expansion and land-use change, create ecological overlap between humans, domesticated animals, and wildlife and can exacerbate the zoonotic transmission of parasites. To improve our understanding of this dynamic, we employed multi-locus genotyping to conduct a cross-sectional study of the potential for zoonotic transmission of the protozoan parasite Giardia duodenalis among humans, household associated livestock and dogs, and black and gold howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) in the Corrientes Province of Argentina. We found Giardia prevalence to be highest in howler monkeys (90.3% (47/52)), followed by humans (61.1% (22/36)), dogs (44.4% (16/36)), and cattle (41.9% (18/43)). We further established that howler monkeys exclusively harbored strains of assemblage B (100%) while humans were infected with either assemblage A (13.3%) or B (80%) or A and B (6.7%), and cattle and dogs were infected with either assemblage A (cattle, 94.1%; dogs, 80%)), A and C (10%), or their host-adapted assemblage (cattle, 5.9%; dogs, 10%). Our finding of G. duodenalis in both humans and domesticated animals (assemblage A) and humans and wild primates (assemblage B) suggests that cross-species transmission of multiple assemblages of G. duodenalis may occur in rural complexes such as northern Argentina where people, domesticated animals, and wildlife overlap. We further highlight the need to investigate the implications of these results for human health, the economics of livestock production, and wildlife conservation in this and similar systems.