Prevalence and distribution of Entamoeba species in a rural community in northern South Africa.

Amoebiasis occurs worldwide and affects about 20-50 million people annually. Stool samples were collected from patients attending different rural clinics in Northern South Africa in the present study. Microscopic examination was performed for the initial detection of parasites.

Prevalence and genetic characterization of in relation to diarrhea in Limpopo and Gauteng provinces, South Africa.

Background: Very few studies have determined the prevalence and assemblage distribution of in South Africa. The present study aimed to ascertain the prevalence of infection and the spread of the various assemblages in two communities in South Africa - Giyani, Limpopo province (rural community) and Pretoria Guateng province (urban community).

Methods: Prevalence was determined by immunological and molecular methods analyzing a total of 516 stool samples collected from patients visiting different health centres in Giyani and Pretoria.

Parasitic infection among HIV/AIDS patients at Bela-Bela clinic, Limpopo province, South Africa with special reference to Cryptosporidium.

Intestinal parasitic organisms are common pathogens among HIV patients worldwide and have been known to cause severe and life-threatening diarrhea in such subjects. In the present study, the prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp and other intestinal parasites in stool samples from 151 HIV/AIDS patients attending a HIV treatment center in South Africa was determined using' standard parasitological methods, as well as molecular methods including PCR and quantitative PCR for confirmation of Cryptosporidium spp. In addition, the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method was evaluated for detection of Cryptosporidium spp in 24 stool samples.

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays for detection of Theileria parva infections targeting the PIM and p150 genes.

We have developed two loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays for the detection of Theileria parva, the causative agent of East Coast fever (ECF), an economically important cattle disease in eastern, central and southern Africa. These assays target the polymorphic immunodominant molecule (PIM) and p150 LAMP genes. The primer set for each gene target consists of six primers, and each set recognises eight distinct regions on the target gene to give highly specific detection of T.

Sensitive and specific detection of Cryptosporidium species in PCR-negative samples by loop-mediated isothermal DNA amplification and confirmation of generated LAMP products by sequencing.

Three LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal DNA amplification) assays were applied to detect Cryptosporidium species DNA in a total number of 270 fecal samples originating from cattle, sheep and horses in South Africa. DNA was extracted from 0.5 g of fecal material.

Analysis of world strains of Anaplasma marginale using major surface protein 1a repeat sequences.

Anaplasma marginale is a tick-borne pathogen of cattle that causes the disease bovine anaplasmosis worldwide. Major surface proteins (MSPs) are involved in host-pathogen and tick-pathogen interactions and have been used as markers for the genetic characterization of A. marginale strains and phylogenetic studies.

Development of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method for diagnosis of equine piroplasmosis.

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a novel nucleic acid method whereby DNA is amplified with high specificity, efficiency, and rapidity under isothermal conditions using a set of four specifically designed primers and a DNA polymerase with strand displacement activity. In this study, we used LAMP primer sets designed from EMA-1 and Bc 48 genes for detection of Theileria equi and Babesia caballi infections, respectively. These primer sets specifically amplified DNA of the respective parasites.

Ticks and tick-borne diseases of livestock belonging to resource-poor farmers in the eastern Free State of South Africa.

The paper provides a summary of three studies conducted in the eastern Free State of South Africa between 1998 and 2000. In a questionnaire-based study approximately 21% of interviewed resource-poor farmers (n = 150) indicated that they experienced problems with ticks and tick-borne diseases. About 56% of farmers indicated that tick-related problems were most severe in summer, while 32% indicated that the most problems were encountered in winter.

Comparison of Giemsa and acridine orange stains for the diagnosis of Leishmania donovani in biopsies of infected hamsters.

Identical impression smears of spleen, liver and bone marrow biopsy materials from Leishmania donovani-infected hamsters were stained using either acridine orange or Giemsa. Spleen parasite-loads calculated from the two stains for identical biopsy material were significantly different from each other. However, liver and bone marrow parasite- loads calculated from either Giemsa-stained or acridine orange-stained biopsies were not significantly different from each other.

Screening of metal ion chelators against Leishmania donovani-infected Syrian hamsters.

Leishmania donovani-infected Syrian hamsters were treated intraperitoneally with 0.23 mmoles/kg/day of EDTA, EGTA, HEEDTA and 100 mg/kg/day of Pentostam R. The control group received 0.

Establishment of an appropriate inoculum dose of Leishmania donovani promastigotes required to establish a visceral infection in laboratory animal rodent models.

Syrian hamsters and BALB/c mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with various doses of stationary phase Leishmania donovani promastigotes derived from primary, secondary and tertiary cultures. Axenic derived amastigotes from a tertiary culture and mass-culture derived promastigotes from primary, secondary, and tertiary cultures were also used. Animals were sacrificed after 30 days incubation period and parasite-loads quantified from Giemsa stained spleen smears.

Ethyleneglycol-Bis-((-aminoethyl ether) N,N,N(1),N(1), -Tetraacetic acid (EGTA) inhibits Leishmania donovani in vitro.

Exposure of Leishmania donovani culture promastigotes to ethyleneglycol-bis-((-aminoethyl ether) N,N,N(1),N(1),-tetraacetic acid (EGTA) concentrations of between 0.2 to 1.6 mg/ml significantly inhibited their growth, though the different concentrations did not significantly differ between themselves on their effect on promastigotes in cell free media.

Pristane (2,6,10,14-Tetramethyl-pentadecane) inhibits disease progression in Leishmania-infected Balb/c mice.

The course of Leishmania infection in pristane-primed BALB/c mice infected with either Leishmania major or Leishmania donovani was examined. Pristane-primed L. donovani infected mice had spleen parasite-loads that were 13 times less than controls.