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

Naegleria spp. is a free-living amoeba of which some species includ­ing N. fowleri and N. australeinsis are highly pathogenic in human and ani­mals. These widespread amoebae could be found in different environmental sources particularly in aquatic resources of tropical and subtropical regions. The most important source of infection is via recreational water contact. Due to the lack of thorough research regarding species of Naegleria spp. in aquatic sources, the present study was conducted. In the present study, 60 samples were collected from recreational wa­ter resources of Rasht city, Guilan province, north of Iran. After filtering and culturing the samples, plates were examined by microscopic method and accord­ing to the page criteria. DNA of vahlkampfiid-positive samples were then ex­tracted using phe­nol-chlorophorm method. Amoebae genus was identified by targeting the ITS-region and sequencing based-approaches. Nine (15%) samples out of a 60 total samples were positive for Naegleria spp. of which seven belonged to potentially pathogenic N. australiensis. Two other strains were belonged to non-pathogenic N. pagei. The present research was the first report of occurrence of N. aus­traliensis and N. pagei in Rasht city, north Iran. This study reflects the occurrence of Naegleria spp. in water sources of Guilan Province, Iran.