Publication Details
Abstract
Background: Echinococcosis is a disease that affects large proportion of humans around the world due to exposure to the larvae of the Echinococcus spp tapeworms. The disease overwhelms surgeons especially in Iraq due to high numbers of cases. The disease control according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is costing the world billions of US dollars annually. Objectives: The current database information about the hydatid cyst (HC) phylogeny in Iraq is obscure, therefore the present work was conducted to identify the current circulating strains of E. granulosus in Iraq and their genetic links to world strains. Patients and methods: From Al Karama Teaching Hospital, Kut, Wasit, Iraq, 10 HC samples were collected from 10 patients who undergone surgical interventions to remove the cysts. The samples were investigated using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and partial gene sequencing (PGS) techniques that targeted the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COX1) gene of the HCs. Results: The PCR findings confirmed that the HCs belonged to E.granulosus. Like the PCR, PGS assured the HC identity of E.granulosus plus declared that some local samples were in high nucleotide similarity with strains from the western, eastern, and middle eastern regions of the world. Conclusions: Thecirculating local strains in the sampled region of Iraq represent close similarity to some world strains referring to virulent potential or geographical links between these isolates.