Prevalence and Genotype Distribution of Giardia duodenalis in Rabbits in Shandong Province, Eastern China

Giardia duodenalis is a zoonotic enteric parasite that can infect humans and a number of animal species including rabbits with a worldwide distribution. Infection with G. duodenalis can cause serious public health problems and significant economic losses to animal husbandry. So accurate understanding of the prevalence and genotype distribution of G. duodenalis in rabbits is necessary. In the present study, a total of 616 fecal samples were collected from rabbits in Shandong province, eastern China, and examined in G. duodenalis prevalence and genotypes by nested PCR amplification of beta-giardin (bg), glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh), and triosephosphate isomerase (tpi) gene loci of G. duodenalis. Sixty-nine (11.2%) of the examined rabbit fecal samples were G. duodenalis-positive. Of them, the prevalence of G. duodenalis is 8.4% (41/490) in Rizhao city and 22.2% (28/126) in Weihai city. Breeds, region, and feeding modes were highly correlated with G. duodenalis infection in rabbits. Moreover, three genotypes (assemblages A, B, and E) were identified in rabbits at three gene loci, and the assemblage E was the dominant genotype, while the assemblage A was reported in rabbits in China for the first time. It is noticeable that two rabbits were found to be infected with two different G. duodenalis assemblages (assemblages A and E, assemblages B and E, respectively). These findings enrich the genotype distribution of G. duodenalis in rabbits and provide baseline data for preventing and controlling G. duodenalis infection in rabbits in eastern China.