ArticleParasitology research2014
The isolation of Balamuthia mandrillaris from environmental sources from Peru.
Article in Parasitology research, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Molecular and Culture-Based Surveillance of Free-Living Amoebae in Human Related Sources in an Outermost Region.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- High Occurrence of Pathogenic Free-Living Amoebae in Arid Environments.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Isolation and Environmental Detection of Balamuthia mandrillaris in Isfahan, Iran.Environmental microbiology reports · 2025Article
- Potentially pathogenic free-living amoebae at very high altitude: Detection by multiplex qPCR in the Northern Altiplano fascioliasis hyperendemic area in Bolivia.One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2025Article
- Fatal amoebic meningoencephalitis caused byFrontiers in veterinary science · 2025Article
- Multiplex Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay To Detect Acanthamoeba spp., Vermamoeba vermiformis, Naegleria fowleri, and Balamuthia mandrillaris in Different Water Sources.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Article
- Isolation and habitat analysis of Balamuthia mandrillaris from soil.Parasitology research · 2024Article
- Distribution and Current State of Molecular Genetic Characterization in Pathogenic Free-Living Amoebae.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Opportunistic free-living amoebal pathogens.Pathogens and global health · 2022Article
- Cutaneous balamuthiasis: A clinicopathological study.JAAD international · 2022Article
- Various brain-eating amoebae: the protozoa, the pathogenesis, and the disease.Frontiers of medicine · 2021Review
- The transcriptome of Balamuthia mandrillaris trophozoites for structure-guided drug design.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Isolation and Phylogenetic Analysis of Free-Living Amoebae (Acanthamoeba, Naegleria, and Vermamoeba) in the Farmland Soils and Recreational Places in Iran.Acta parasitologica · 2020Article
- Article
- First report of the isolation of Balamuthia mandrillaris in the northern region of Japan.Parasitology research · 2018Article
- Centrofacial Balamuthiasis: case report of a rare cutaneous amebic infection.Journal of cutaneous pathology · 2016Article
- Presence of Balamuthia mandrillaris in hot springs from Mazandaran province, northern Iran.Epidemiology and infection · 2016Article
- Detection of Balamuthia mandrillaris DNA in the storage case of contact lenses in Germany.Parasitology research · 2016Article
- Balamuthia mandrillaris therapeutic mud bath in Jamaica.Epidemiology and infection · 2015Article
- Isolation and molecular characterization of Acanthamoeba and Balamuthia mandrillaris from combination shower units in Costa Rica.Parasitology research · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Balamuthia mandrillaris is an opportunistic free-living amoeba that has been reported to cause skin lesions and the fatal Balamuthia amoebic encephalitis (BAE) in humans and other animals. Currently, around 200 human BAE cases have been reported worldwide, although this number is considered to be underestimated. The highest number of BAE cases has been reported in the American continent, mainly in the southwest of the USA. Peru seems to be another hotspot for BAE with around 55 human cases having been identified, usually involving cutaneous infection, especially lesions in the central face area. The isolation of Balamuthia from environmental sources has been reported on only three prior occasions, twice from Californian soils and once from dust in Iran and so it seems that this amoeba is relatively rarely encountered in samples from the environment. We investigated that possibility of finding the amoebae in soil samples from different regions where clinical cases have been reported in Peru. Twenty-one samples were cultured in non-nutrient agar plates and were checked for the presence of B. mandrillaris-like trophozoites and/or cysts. Those samples that were positive for these amoebae by microscopic criteria were then confirmed by PCR amplification and DNA sequencing of the mitochondrial 16S rDNA gene of B. mandrillaris. We have detected the presence of B. mandrillaris in four samples collected in the regions of Piura (3) and Lima (1) where infection cases have been previously reported. We hypothesize that B. mandrillaris is present in Peru in soil and dust which therefore constitutes a source of the infection for the BAE cases previously reported in this country. Further studies should be carried out in the area to confirm the generality of this finding.
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