Blastocystis infection in Egypt:An update in cattle from Dakahlia governorate and data meta-analysis

Blastocystis sp. is the most prevalent protozoan parasite in 
humans and affects a broad range of animals. Blastocystis
infections are prevalent in humans in Egypt however, there is 
limited information available on animals. The current study 
aimed at updating the prevalence in cattle and assessing the 
prevalence and distribution of Blastocystis sp. infections and 
subtypes in different hosts in Egypt. Faecal samples were 
collected from 100 cattle as well as faecal contents of intestines 
of 50 ducks and 90 domestic pigeons. Samples were examined 
using SSU rRNA gene PCR and sequencing. Studies 
conducted on humans, domestic animals, and birds in Egypt 
were reviewed and the random effects models was used to 
determine the pooled prevalence of infection in humans based 
on diagnostic methods. One cattle faecal sample was positive 
(1%), while none of examined pigeons or ducks were infected. 
ST3 was the identified subtype in the positive isolate which is 
phylogenetically related to other isolates from humans and 
animals from different countries. A total of 26 studies on human 
Blastocystis infections in Egypt were used for meta-analysis, 
resulting in a pooled prevalence of 67.9 %, 47.3%, and 33.3%, 
based on PCR, culture, and microscopy, respectively. On 
contrary, limited studies (n = 7) were conducted on diverse 
animal species. The reported subtypes in humans in Egypt 
were ST1 - ST4, ST7, ST10, and ST14. Likewise, ST1 – ST7, 
ST10, and ST14 were reported in animals, and ST2 in water 
samples from Egypt. This study emphasizes the importance of 
addressing Blastocystis infections in Egypt from a public health 
and zoonotic perspective in terms of proper diagnosis and 
control by providing essential data on infections in humans and 
animals based on current and published data.