Short communicationGenetic similarity between Taenia solium cysticerci collected from the two distant endemic areas in North and North East India

•Genetic analysis of T. solium cysticerci was carried out by sequencing of cox1 gene.•Isolates were collected from 2 different areas of North and North East India.•Variation in cox1 sequences of samples collected from these regions was minimal.•All isolates showed similarity with Asian genotype of T. solium.•Among 50 isolates, 6 variant nucleotide positions (0.37% of total length) were detected.

Taenia solium taeniasis/cysticercosis is a major public health problem in developing countries. This study reports genotypic analysis of T. solium cysticerci collected from two different endemic areas of North (Chandigarh) and North East India (Dibrugarh) by the sequencing of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene. The variation in cox1 sequences of samples collected from these two different geographical regions located at a distance of 2585 km was minimal. Alignment of the nucleotide sequences with different species of Taenia showed the similarity with Asian genotype of T. solium. Among 50 isolates, 6 variant nucleotide positions (0.37% of total length) were detected. These results suggest that population in these geographical areas are homogenous.

Graphical abstractHaplotype network of cox1 gene of Cysticerci from Taenia solium 304 using the TCS software. Nodes on branches represent the variable nucleotide positions.Download full-size image