Guinea Bissau Research Articles

GUINEA BISSAU: New Prime Minister

GUINEA BISSAU: New Prime Minister

Entre Guiné e Portugal: Uma fotografia do coração

This work focuses on the life of a young woman from Africa (Guinea Bissau) that migrating to Portugal since ten years ago, met a «new» condition when, at the age of 16 she became blind. Starting from her autobiographical arrative, it is intended, by crossing the analysis and interpretation of the elements provided, to weave a deeper and more complex reading of that path. The article focuses the social contexts «Between Guinea and Portugal», an educational path in which the ethnic group of origin, the condition of blindness and gender played a significant role as promoters of emancipation and empowerment. We address the reasons for the problem «Between Guinea and Portugal: A photography of a heart», noting her speech through her own voice, reflected and analysed by us. Then we will give particular attention to the role of education in her life, «Blindness at the distance of a look: differences and inequalities in the educational and cultural act», while individual reflecting the combination of several coordinated factors. We present the methodology and justify the methodological and technical choice of the biographical interview that supported the research. The final considerations account for the concerns generated by the interpretation of a life.

Pension System in Guinea Bissau: Key Challenges and Prospects for the Future

The government of Guinea Bissau is considering implementing the pension fund included in the 2015 Budget Law. It requested a technical assistance from the World Bank to conduct an initial diagnostic of the pension system with a focus on the public service pension scheme. The objective of this note is an initial step to respond to this request. The analysis shows that it is not recommendable for Guinea Bissau to set up a pension fund for the public service pension scheme at this stage. Although the 2015 Budget Law envisages to create a pension fund, its financing (6 percent of payroll) would not be enough to pay existing pensions. Importantly, creating a pension fund in a weak governance environment is extremely risky while the establishment of a strong regulatory framework would be a prior condition for the implementation of such a pension fund. As such, establishing a pension fund for the public service employees would bring significant administrative and fiscal challenges and therefore is not in the interest of the pensioners. However, some measures could be taken immediately to improve the public services pension schemes. These measures include to review and update the list of current beneficiaries including “proof of life,” systematically make pension payments through the banking system and introduce some administrative reforms. Changes to the parameters of the current public pension could be also be adopted to provide more equitable pension benefits. The government may also want to consider developing a model like World Bank’s PROST toolkit to: (i) assess the fiscal costs of the current scheme, and (ii) evaluate different pension reform options. The World Bank’s pension reform options simulation toolkit, PROST, models pension contributions, entitlements, system revenues and system expenditures over a long period. It is designed to help policy-making make informed policy decisions and is currently used in 46 countries. The World Bank could provide technical assistance to develop such a model although the ability to develop this model will depend on the availability of sufficient data. As a conclusion, the Government of Guinea Bissau is advised to maintain the current institutional structure of the public service pension scheme, introduce administrative reforms and develop and introduce a coherent reform package on the basis of a model like PROST to introduce parametric reforms to improve fiscal sustainability and equity.

The last bastion? X chromosome genotyping of Anopheles gambiae species pair males from a hybrid zone reveals complex recombination within the major candidate ‘genomic island of speciation’

Speciation with gene flow may be aided by reduced recombination helping to build linkage between genes involved in the early stages of reproductive isolation. Reduced recombination on chromosome X has been implicated in speciation within the Anopheles gambiae complex, species of which represent the major Afrotropical malaria vectors. The most recently diverged, morphologically indistinguishable, species pair, A.gambiae and Anopheles coluzzii, ubiquitously displays a 'genomic island of divergence' spanning over 4Mb from chromosome X centromere, which represents a particularly promising candidate region for reproductive isolation genes, in addition to containing the diagnostic markers used to distinguish the species. Very low recombination makes the island intractable for experimental recombination studies, but an extreme hybrid zone in Guinea Bissau offers the opportunity for natural investigation of X-island recombination. SNP analysis of chromosome X hemizygous males revealed: (i) strong divergence in the X-island despite a lack of autosomal divergence; (ii) individuals with multiple-recombinant genotypes, including likely double crossovers and localized gene conversion; (iii) recombination-driven discontinuity both within and between the molecular species markers, suggesting that the utility of the diagnostics is undermined under high hybridization. The largely, but incompletely protected nature of the X centromeric genomic island is consistent with a primary candidate area for accumulation of adaptive variants driving speciation with gene flow, while permitting some selective shuffling and removal of genetic variation.

Dilatando a fé e o império: a imprensa na Guiné no colonialismo (1880-1973)

Analisar a trajectória do jornalismo e as relações entre a imprensa o império na Guiné ao longo do colonialismo são os objectivos do artigo. O estudo adopta uma perspectiva multidisciplinar de investigação e análise, na qual a imprensa é observada na sua interdependência às dimensões política, económica e social. Aplicam-se as teorias do jornalismo em regimes liberais e autoritários para se observar a imprensa. O tardio surgimento da imprensa oficial reflectiu a fragilidade da presença portuguesa durante a Monarquia Constitucional. Ao longo da República a imprensa independente não se afirmou como espaço de debate público. No Estado Novo a imprensa serviu à propaganda do regime autoritário. Ao longo do colonialismo a imprensa na Guiné desempenhou o papel de apoiar e defender o império.

HERITAGE: Guinea Bissau

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural SeriesVolume 53, Issue 9 p. 21164A-21165C Social and Cultural HERITAGE: Guinea Bissau First published: 10 October 2016 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-825X.2016.07285.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume53, Issue9October 2016Pages 21164A-21165C RelatedInformation

Protests in Burkina Faso, Ivory-Coast, Senegal, Mauretania, Guinea Bissau and Guinea Conakry (2011-2014): A Comparative Analysis of Mobilization, Grievances and Opportunities

Popular protests have toppled regimes in Burkina-Faso and Ivory Coast and exerted pressure on regimes in Senegal, Mauretania, Guinea Bissau and Guinea Conakry to embark on political and economic reforms. The paper seeks to find answers to why protests erupted in these countries and why some of the protests where nonviolent and others violent. The central theme of the paper is to identify theoretical and practical inferences, while using a comparative framework. The paper supports the grievance, political opportunities and resource mobilization arguments to explain why citizens protested in all these countries. Economic grievances in all the cases are rooted in corruption, income inequality, unemployment and the lack of opportunities. Political grievances connect people to exclusion from political power and a desire for democracy. To explain protests in the four cases, the dissertation draws on the literature of mobilization, repertoires of contention, social media, youth bulge, unemployment and regime type to test two grievance based hypothesis and one violence based hypothesis. The paper concludes with evidence that protests in all the cases are associated with socioeconomic and socio political grievances. There is also evidence that the nature of violence is largely caused by the function of regime and security force type.

In the Service of Democratic Governance: The African Union Normative Framework on Unconstitutional Change of Government and ECOWAS Protocol on Good Governance and Democracy in the Post-Arab Spring

For the crafters and drafters of the African Union’s (AU) Constitutive Acts particularly the Addis Ababa Charter and the Lomé Declaration of July 2000 and the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) Protocol on Good Governance and Democracy, the novel idea was to provide a regional, sub-regional, platform of support to democratic governments and also deter any forms of unconstitutionalism. However, recent events have put to the test the political capacity of these organisations to uphold the sanctity of the normative framework and the protocol supportive of democratic processes. In the case of the AU, the outburst of revolutionary movements in the north African region provided a platform for a thorough assessment of the AU’s Normative Frameworks related to constitutionalism and democracy. While it was accepted that the case of Tunisia followed the democratic process, the Egyptian and Libyan cases were seen as a negation of the principles of the framework.Likewise,in the case of the ECOWAS, there were myriads of problems that tested the organisation’s democratic credentials. For instance, Guinea Bissau experienced two coup d’états in two years (2009 and 2012), Guinea in December 2008; Niger in March 2010; and Burkina Faso in 2015. The AU and ECOWAS have been challenged and pulled along by two parallel but not equal forces: the need to ensure respect for the principle of total rejection of unconstitutional changes of government, and the necessity to recognise the reality on the ground. This study therefore employs both historical and comparative methodologies to assess the roles of these organisations in being true to the values of democracy as contained in their normative framework and the protocol, as well asalso examines the challenges faced in the context of the situations in Libya, Mali and Guinea Bissau.

GUINEA BISSAU: New PM Named

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural SeriesVolume 53, Issue 6 p. 21028B-21029A Internal Developments GUINEA BISSAU: New PM Named First published: 18 July 2016 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-825X.2016.07093.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume53, Issue6July 2016Pages 21028B-21029A RelatedInformation

Estimating of Origin and Evolutionary History of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 2 in Cuba

Background: Infection with human HIV-2 is endemic in West Africa. The virus originated from West African sooty mangabeys during the first half of the 20th century and an epidemic initiation in Guinea Bissau that coincides with the independence war (1963-1974). The HIV-2 group A is categorized as epidemic group. The presence of HIV-2 group A in Cuba has been previously documented. However, the evolutionary history of HIV-2 group A in the Cuban epidemic is unknown. The aim of this work is to estimate the origin and evolutionary history of the HIV-2 group A in Cuba. Methods: We used a Bayesian coalescent method to analyze the env gene of Cuban HIV-2 group A. The rate of nucleotide substitution was determined and was used to date the phylogenies and reveal the evolutionary history of HIV-2 group A in Cuba. Results: Multiple introductions of HIV-2 group A, mainly from Guinea Bissau and Portugal were detected. The most recent common ancestor of Cuban HIV-2 groups A was dated back to about 1972 (95 % HPD: 1966-1978). The rate of nucleotide substitutions was 5.02 x 10-3 substitutions per site per years (95 % HDP: 4.51-5.52 x 10-3). Conclusions: The results of this study allowed for the first time to estimate the evolutionary history of HIV-2 in Cuba and establish the basis for phylogeographic and phylodynamics studies.

The Role of csos in Promoting Human Rights Protection, Mass Atrocities Prevention, and Civilian Protection in Armed Conflicts

The West Africa region is arguably the most turbulent region in Africa; from the civil wars of Liberia and Sierra Leone to the political disputes in Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea Bissau and recently Mali; the region has hosted the highest numbers of the United Nations (un) peacekeeping missions with mixed results. While the responsibility of peace, security and ensuring human protection resides with governments, Civil Society Organizations (csos) have demonstrated their capacity to complement government’s efforts in peace and security; and political leadership across the world has come to realise the strength of csos in anticipating, preventing and resolving conflicts because of their in-depth knowledge of context and expertise in working closely with communities. This paper assesses the contributions of csos towards the promotion of human rights protection, mass atrocities prevention and civilian protection in conflict-affected areas in West Africa; and argues for continued involvement of csos in human protection.

Cost-Effectiveness of Antivenoms for Snakebite Envenoming in 16 Countries in West Africa

BackgroundSnakebite poisoning is a significant medical problem in agricultural societies in Sub Saharan Africa. Antivenom (AV) is the standard treatment, and we assessed the cost-effectiveness of making it available in 16 countries in West Africa.MethodsWe determined the cost-effectiveness of AV based on a decision-tree model from a public payer perspective. Specific AVs included in the model were Antivipmyn, FAV Afrique, EchiTab-G and EchiTab-Plus. We derived inputs from the literature which included: type of snakes causing bites (carpet viper (Echis species)/non-carpet viper), AV effectiveness against death, mortality without AV, probability of Early Adverse Reactions (EAR), likelihood of death from EAR, average age at envenomation in years, anticipated remaining life span and likelihood of amputation. Costs incurred by the victims include: costs of confirming and evaluating envenomation, AV acquisition, routine care, AV transportation logistics, hospital admission and related transportation costs, management of AV EAR compared to the alternative of free snakebite care with ineffective or no AV. Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratios (ICERs) were assessed as the cost per death averted and the cost per Disability-Adjusted-Life-Years (DALY) averted. Probabilistic Sensitivity Analyses (PSA) using Monte Carlo simulations were used to obtain 95% Confidence Intervals of ICERs.ResultsThe cost/death averted for the 16 countries of interest ranged from $1,997 in Guinea Bissau to $6,205 for Liberia and Sierra Leone. The cost/DALY averted ranged from $83 (95% Confidence Interval: $36-$240) for Benin Republic to $281 ($159–457) for Sierra-Leone. In all cases, the base-case cost/DALY averted estimate fell below the commonly accepted threshold of one time per capita GDP, suggesting that AV is highly cost-effective for the treatment of snakebite in all 16 WA countries. The findings were consistent even with variations of inputs in 1—way sensitivity analyses. In addition, the PSA showed that in the majority of iterations ranging from 97.3% in Liberia to 100% in Cameroun, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal, our model results yielded an ICER that fell below the threshold of one time per capita GDP, thus, indicating a high degree of confidence in our results.ConclusionsTherapy for SBE with AV in countries of WA is highly cost-effective at commonly accepted thresholds. Broadening access to effective AVs in rural communities in West Africa is a priority.

Can corneal pannus with trachomatous inflammation--follicular be used in combination as an improved specific clinical sign for current ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection?

BackgroundTrachoma is a blinding disease caused by conjunctival infection with Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct). Mass drug administration (MDA) for trachoma control is administered based on the population prevalence of the clinical sign of trachomatis inflammation – follicular (TF). However, the prevalence of TF is often much higher than the prevalence of Ct infection. The addition of a clinical sign specific for current ocular Ct infection to TF could save resources by preventing unnecessary additional rounds of MDA.MethodsStudy participants were aged between 1–9 years and resided on 7 islands of the Bijagos Archipelago, Guinea Bissau. Clinical grades for trachoma and corneal pannus and ocular swab samples were taken from 80 children with TF and from 81 matched controls without clinical evidence of trachoma. Ct infection testing was performed using droplet digital PCR.ResultsNew pannus was significantly associated with Ct infection after adjustment for TF (P = 0.009, OR = 3.65 (1.4–9.8)). Amongst individuals with TF, individuals with new pannus had significantly more Ct infection than individuals with none or old pannus (75.0 % vs 45.5 %, Chi2P = 0.01). TF and new pannus together provide a highly specific (91.7 %), but a poorly sensitive (51.9 %) clinical diagnostic test for Ct infection.ConclusionsAs we move towards trachoma elimination it may be desirable to use a combined clinical sign (new pannus in addition to TF) that is highly specific for current ocular Ct infection. This would allow national health systems to obtain a more accurate estimate of Ct population prevalence to inform further need for MDA without the expense of Ct molecular diagnostics, which are currently unaffordable in programmatic contexts.

Institutional Governance Reforms: Examining the Case of ECOWAS

In the last two decades, several member countries of the Economic Communities of West African States (ECOWAS) have put in place several institutional reforms aimed at improving corporate governance. It had been anticipated that the institutionalization of democracy would bring forth several expected benefits such as good governance, strengthen existing institutions, enhance corporate governance practices, and overall, improve the general welfare of the citizenry. This research uses data from World Bank Governance Indicators for all ECOWAS countries, and examines the quality of institutional governance from 1996 to 2012. The findings of this research show that the embracing of democratic culture has not significantly improved the quality of institutional governance of many ECOWAS countries. Rather, the data reveals that there has been an increasing trend of political instability and violence in some of the ECOWAS countries such as Guinea Bissau, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal, Gambia, and Togo. In addition, regulatory quality and governance effectiveness for many ECOWAS countries are either declining or at best stagnated. Ceremonial institutional conformity tends to be the norm rather than the exception. More importantly, restraining of press freedom and institutionalized corruption have significantly negatively influenced the quality of corporate governance practices in the region. Therefore, it is important to strengthen the electoral institutions to ensure free and fair elections that will reduce political violence and enhance political stability and by so doing strengthen corporate governance practices.

Rural surgery in Guinea Bissau: an experience of Doctors Worldwide Turkey.

OBJECTIVE:In Africa, there is critical shortage of surgeons. Majority of the surgeons work in urban centers, and almost none of them is working in the rural areas. This study documents surgical interventions performed in Guinea-Bissau by Doctors Worldwide Turkey.METHODS:A group of surgeons from the Doctors Worldwide Turkey performed various surgical interventions in the Simao Mendes, Gabu and Bafata community hospitals. Demographics, surgical methods, anesthesia techniques and complications were recorded.RESULTS:Sixty- four procedures were undertaken between 5–16 February 2010 and 6–11 May 2011. The patient population consisted of 47 male (82.5%) and 10 female (17.5%) patients with a mean age of 44.5 (range: 6–81) years. Five emergency cases were observed. Hartmann’s procedure for rectal carcinoma; modified radical mastectomy for breast carcinoma; 2 right total thyroidectomies, 1 bilateral subtotal thyroidectomy; 2 incisional hernia repairs with mesh, 1 breast lumpectomy, 3 mass excisions, 2 keloidectomies, and various techniques of hernia repair for 35 inguinal hernias (4 bilateral, 3 strangulated and 2 coexisting with hydrocele), Winkelmann’s procedure for 5 hydroceles (1 bilateral), and unilateral orchiectomy for 1 bilateral hydrocele were recorded. Sixteen patients received general (23.5%), 23 spinal (33.8%), 7 epidural (10.3%), 15 local (22.1%), and 7 ketamine (10.3%) anesthesia. There was no mortality.CONCLUSION:Surgical diseases, majority of which are hernias threaten public health in underdeveloped regions of Africa. Blitz surgery may be an efficient temporary solution.

Genetic consequences of human forest exploitation in two colobus monkeys in Guinea Bissau

The ability of forest-dwelling species to adapt to changes in their habitat is being increasingly challenged by the rapid pace of human-induced forest degradation. Understanding the effect of such environmental changes on biodiversity requires comparative analyses across species living within the same habitats. We investigated the effect of forest exploitation on the genetic structure and demography of two sympatric arboreal primates showing differences in their socioecology: the Western black-and-white colobus (Colobus polykomos) and Temminck's red colobus (Procolobus badius temminckii). We conducted the study in a fragmented and human-impacted forest in Guinea Bissau. Using microsatellite data from six C. polykomos and eight P. b. temminckii social groups, we found that in C. polykomos the distribution of genetic diversity followed an isolation-by-distance pattern whereas for P. b. temminckii, the results suggested restriction in female dispersal. We detected a strong, recent bottleneck for both primates, which we inferred to have resulted from the anthropogenic exploitation of forest resources in the last centuries. The bottleneck signal was stronger for P. b. temminckii as a likely consequence of its larger estimated ancestral population size. Finally, we discussed the different analytical approaches used. Our results confirm that P. b. temminckii is more affected by habitat changes than C. polykomos, despite being phylogenetically close. Nonetheless, the low estimated effective population sizes and the known demographic changes indicate that both species are severely threatened by human forest exploitation, requiring urgent conservation action.

Mixed-stock analysis in green turtles Chelonia mydas: mtDNA decipher current connections among west Atlantic populations

The green turtle Chelonia mydas undertakes wide-ranging migrations between feeding and nesting sites, resulting in mixing and isolation of genetic stocks. We used mtDNA control region to characterize the genetic composition, population structure, and natal origins of C. mydas in the West Atlantic Ocean, at one feeding ground (State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), and three Caribbean nesting grounds (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, and Suriname). The feeding ground presented considerable frequency of common haplotypes from the South Atlantic, whereas the nesting sites presented a major contribution of the most common haplotype from the Caribbean. MSA revealed multiple origins of individuals at the feeding ground, notably from Ascension Island, Guinea Bissau, and French Guiana. This study enables a better understanding of the dispersion patterns and highlights the importance of connecting both nesting and feeding areas. Effective conservation initiatives need to encompass these ecologically and geographically distinct sites as well as those corridors connecting them.

Inverse relationship between microRNA-155 and -184 expression with increasing conjunctival inflammation during ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection.

BackgroundTrachoma, a preventable blinding eye disease, is initiated by ocular infection with Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct). We previously showed that microRNAs (miR) -147b and miR-1285 were up-regulated in inflammatory trachomatous scarring. During the initial stage of disease, follicular trachoma with current Ct infection, the differential expression of miR has not yet been investigated.MethodsConjunctival samples were collected from 163 children aged 1–9 years old living in a trachoma-endemic region of Guinea Bissau, West Africa. Small RNA sequencing (RNAseq) was carried out on samples from five children with follicular trachoma and current Ct infection and five children with healthy conjunctivae and no Ct infection. Small RNAseq was also carried out on human epithelial cell lines infected with ocular Ct strains A2497 and isogenic plasmid-free A2497 in vitro. Results were validated by quantitative PCR (qPCR) in 163 clinical samples.ResultsDifferential expression of RNAseq data identified 12 miR with changes in relative expression during follicular trachoma, of which 9 were confirmed as differentially expressed by qPCR (miR-155, miR-150, miR-142, miR-181b, miR-181a, miR-342, miR-132, miR-4728 and miR-184). MiR-155 and miR-184 expression had a direct relationship with the degree of clinical inflammation. MiR-155 was up-regulated (OR = 2.533 ((95 % CI = 1.291–4.971); P = 0.0069) and miR-184 was down-regulated (OR = 0.416 ((95 % CI = 0.300–0.578); P = 1.61*10−7) as the severity of clinical inflammation increased. Differential miR expression was not detected in HEp-2 or HCjE epithelial cells 48 h post infection with Ct in vitro. HCjE cells, a conjunctival epithelial cell line, had a markedly different miR background expression compared to HEp-2 cells.ConclusionsIn follicular trachoma, expression of miR-155 and miR-184 is correlated with the severity of inflammation. This likely reflects host regulation of the immune response and a prolonged period of wound healing following the clearance of Ct. Prolonged healing may be associated with subsequent development of scarring trachoma.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12879-016-1367-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Predicting the extinction of HIV-2 in rural Guinea-Bissau.

Objective:This article predicts the future epidemiology of HIV-2 in Caió, a rural region of Guinea Bissau; and investigates whether HIV-2, which has halved in prevalence between 1990 and 2007 and is now almost absent in young adults in Caió, can persist as an infection of the elderly.Design:A mathematical model of the spread of HIV-2 was tailored to the epidemic in Caió, a village in Guinea-Bissau.Methods:An age-stratified difference equation model of HIV-2 transmission was fitted to age-stratified HIV-2 incidence and prevalence data from surveys conducted in Caió in 1990, 1997 and 2007. A stochastic version of the same model was used to make projections.Results:HIV-2 infection is predicted to continue to rapidly decline in Caió such that new infections will cease and prevalence will reach low levels (e.g. below 0.1%) within a few decades. HIV-2 is not predicted to persist in the elderly.Conclusion:HIV-2 is predicted go extinct in Caió during the second half of this century.

Isolation of Balamuthia mandrillaris from soil samples in North-Western Iran

Balamuthia mandrillaris is an opportunistic free-living amoebae (FLA) which has been reported as the causative agent of the fatal Balamuthia amoebic encephalitis (BAE). Currently, the transmission dynamics of this pathogen remain poorly understood although the organism has been associated with soils, and thus, soil exposure has been identified as a risk factor for this pathogenic amoeba. Nevertheless, environmental isolation of B. mandrillaris is a rare event and strains of this amoebic species have been isolated from soil and dust sources only in seven previous reports (Iran, Mexico, USA, Peru, Costa Rica, Guinea Bissau, and Jamaica). In Iran, a previous study reported the isolation of B. mandrillaris from dust collected in the city of Tehran and free of known infectious involvement. Therefore, in this work, 55 soil samples collected from public and recreational areas of East Azerbaijan, North-Western Iran, were investigated for the presence of this pathogen. Samples were cultured in 2% non-nutrient agar plates and were monitored for the presence of B. mandrillaris-like trophozoites and/or cysts. Those samples that were positive for these amoebae by microscopic criteria were then confirmed by PCR amplification and DNA sequencing of the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) of B. mandrillaris. The obtained results revealed the presence of this emerging pathogen in 5 of 55 samples included in the study. Homology analysis of the obtained DNA sequences revealed high similarity with previously isolated strains from clinical and environmental sources. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the isolation of B. mandrillaris from soil sources in Iran related to human activity and the second time that this pathogen is isolated from the environment in this country.