Morphological and Molecular Survey of Naegleria spp. in Water Bodies Used for Recreational Purposes in Rasht city, Northern Iran.

Background: Naegleria spp. is a free-living amoeba of which some species including N. fowleri and N.

Molecular identification of Hartmannella vermiformis and Vannella persistens from man-made recreational water environments, Tehran, Iran.

A survey was conducted on man-made recreational water located in different regions of Tehran, Iran to detect the free-living amoebae present in ponds and fountains of parks and squares. Fifty water samples from 22 municipal districts of Tehran were screened for free-living amoebae and identified by morphological characters and polymerase chain reaction amplification. Amoebae detected were identified as Hartmannella vermiformis (12 %) and Vannella persistens (4 %), which are the first reports of these two amoebas in recreational water environments of Iran.

Screening of recreational areas of rivers for potentially pathogenic free-living amoebae in the suburbs of Tehran, Iran.

A survey was conducted to determine the presence of free-living amoebae (FLA), especially Acanthamoeba and Naegleria, in river recreation areas in Tehran Province, Iran. All rivers surveyed were associated with human activity, and two were also a source of municipal tap water. Fifty-five water samples from 10 major rivers were screened for FLA and identified by morphological characters, PCR amplification targeting specific genes for Acanthamoeba (DF3 region of Rns gene) and other FLA (ITS PCR), and homology analysis.