Giardia Genotyping

Principal Investigator

Joseph Eisenberg

Co-Investigators

Carl Marrs, Lixin Zhang, Gabriel Trueba, William Cevallos Trujillo, James Trostle, Karen Levy, Alan Hubbard

Funding Sources

National Institutes of Health

About this Project

The main goal of this study was to determine the genotypes of Giardia lamblia isolated from humans living in close proximity to animals in rural Ecuador and also to examine whether a higher percentage of asymptomatic and zoonotic genotypes were present in this area.

The study was located in the northern Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas in the canton of Eloy Alfaro, which comprises of approximately 150 villages located along three rivers, Rio Cayapas, Rio Santiago and Rio Onzole all of which drain towards the town Borbon which is the main population centre of the region. During a two year period each enrolled village was visited three times on a rotatory basis. Each visit lasted 15 days during which samples were collected and all cases of diarrhea recorded. Presence of Giardia was tested in Quito using an ELISA kit.