Browsing by Author "Krishnendu Kundu"

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Case Report: A Fatal Case of Babesiosis in a Splenectomized Male Patient from Western India
(American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2022) Ravi Godbole; Avantika Gaur; Priyanka Nayar; Kala Gnanasekaran Kiruthiga; Pradeep D'Costa; Rumma Manchanda; Ajinkya Khilari; Dhanasekaran Shanmugam; Kalpana D. Muglikar; Krishnendu Kundu
Human babesiosis is a rare disease, caused by Babesia species and commonly transmitted by tick bite. Although human babesiosis is known to be asymptomatic in immunocompetent hosts, clinical cases of severe babesiosis have been reported from splenectomized or immunocompromised individuals. To our knowledge, only one case of human babesiosis in India has been previously reported. Here, we report a case of severe babesiosis with high parasitemia (~70%) in a 30-year-old asplenic farmer. The patient presented with fever, yellowish discoloration of skin, oliguria, and anemia; he eventually developed multiorgan failure syndrome and died. Peripheral blood films were prepared and used to confirm the presence of piroplasms by microscopy. Total DNA isolated from blood was used for 18S ribosomal RNA gene fragment amplification by polymerase chain reaction, which was subjected to Sanger sequencing. Although 18S sequence indicated that the Babesia species infecting the patient was similar to that of other Babesia species originating from wild mammals, species identification could not be done. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the patient-derived pathogen is distinct because it forms a separate clade in the cladogram. Copyright © 2022 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Development of a multiplex PCR assay targeting mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit III (cox3) gene for simultaneous specific and sensitive detection of Babesia gibsoni and Babesia vogeli in dogs
(Academic Press Inc., 2025) Mitesh Mittal; Soumendu Chakravarti; Krishnendu Kundu; Prashant Tripathi; Pramod Batra
Canine babesiosis is a potential threat for the dog population worldwide. Rapid, sensitive, and specific identification of the etiological agent to the species is pivotal for initiating effective therapeutic and control measures. Co-infection with multiple species pathogens due to multiple vectors infesting dogs is not uncommon. A multiplex PCR (Bg-Bv mPCR) for simultaneous detection and differentiation of the two common Babesia species, B. gibsoni and B. vogeli has been developed targeting the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit III (cox3) gene. These two species are the species responsible for causing canine babesiosis in Indian subcontinent and Southern Asia. This cox3 gene is present in high copy number and the sequences are species specific and hence targeted to develop the diagnostic multiplex PCR. The multiplex PCR was able to detect up to 5 pg DNA of the Babesia species. No cross-amplifications were observed between the primers specific for either B. vogeli or B. gibsoni. The Bg-Bv mPCR resulted in significantly higher B. gibsoni positives (30/250) than existing 18S ribosomal RNA PCR (22/250). Similarly, the mPCR detected more B. vogeli (26/250) than the 18S rRNA PCR (18/250). The kappa statistics when applied to the results generated by each of the PCR tests also revealed a substantial to perfect agreement between the data. The multiplex PCR targeting cox3 gene is thus a rapid, sensitive, and specific method for simultaneous detection and differentiation of the B. gibsoni and B. vogeli. © 2025 Elsevier Inc.
Diagnostic Methods of Parasitic Diseases of Poultry
(Bentham Science Publishers, 2025) S. Kumar; Pradeep Kumar; R. L. Rakesh; Alok Kumar Singh; Vivek Agarwal; Krishnendu Kundu; Renu Singh
The use of diagnostic methods for the diagnosis of parasitic diseases in poultry has been almost constant over the past few decades. Since the introduction of PCR, few major advances have been adopted in clinical diagnostic tests. Many diagnostic tests that form the backbone of the “modern” microbiology laboratories rely on very old and labour-intensive technologies such as microscopy for the diagnosis of parasites including helminths, protozoans, arthropods, and haemoprotozoans. Urgent needs include more rapid tests without compromising the sensitivity, value-added tests, and point-of-care tests for both high- and low-resource settings. In recent years, research has been focused on alternative methods to improve the diagnosis of parasitic diseases. These include molecular technique-based approaches, immunoassays and proteomics using mass spectrometry platforms technology. This chapter discusses the progress of several approaches in parasite diagnosis and some of their silent characteristics. © 2025, Bentham Books imprint.
Quantification of Eimeria necatrix, E. acervulina and E. maxima genomes in commercial chicken farms by quantitative real time PCR
(Springer, 2020) Krishnendu Kundu; Saroj Kumar; Partha Sarathi Banerjee; Rajat Garg
Advent of quantitative polymerase chain reaction and its variants have enabled identification and quantification of seven known Eimeria species of poultry in biological samples. Attempts were made in the present study to identify and quantify three important pathogenic Eimeria species responsible for intestinal coccidiosis in domestic farmed chicken, E. necatrix, E. acervulina and E. maxima in droppings collected from thirty one poultry farms of North Indian states of Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The study included broiler, layer and backyard rearing units. Overall occurrence of E. necatrix, E. maxima and E. acervulina was 64.5%. E. necatrix was detected in 55% (11/20) broiler farms, 66.7% (4/6) layer farms and 100% (5/5) backyard rearing units studied. Thus, occurrence of E. necatrix was detected in 64.5% (20/31) farms studied. E. maxima and E. acervulina were detected in droppings of 65% (13/20) broiler farms, 66.7% (4/6) layer farms and 60% (3/5) back yard rearing units. Genome counts of each Eimeria species revealed maximum parasite load of E. necatrix followed by E. acervulina in broiler farms and least in layer farms. The mean parasite load (genome) copies for these parasite species were intermediate for backyard units while E. maxima had the lowest number of genome copies in droppings. Mean E. maxima counts were highest in boiler farms, while it was similar for layer and back yard units. However, statistically no significant differences were observed for parasite load existing either between the broiler, layer or back yard units or between the genome counts of E. necatrix, E. acervulina or E. maxima. © 2020, Indian Society for Parasitology.
Schistosomosis
(CRC Press, 2025) Krishnendu Kundu
Schistosomes are trematode parasites that propagate in snails, mammals and birds. The invertebrate snail is the intermediate host and vertebrate hosts are definitive hosts. The disease produced in humans and animals by the different parasitic species of the genus Schistosoma is called schistosomosis. All species of Schistosoma that infect human beings either have non-human origin, or animals act as reservoirs or carriers of the parasite. Human schistosomosis is a public health burden and a zoonotic problem. Human schistosomosis has primarily two forms, intestinal and urogenital. Other forms like pulmonary, hepatic and neural schistosomosis also occur. Forms of animal schistosomosis are hepato-intestinal or nasal. The drugs for treatment and chemoprophylaxis of human and animal schistosomosis are limited. Praziquantel is the only drug available and recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for its mass drug administration protocol aimed towards schistosomosis elimination in endemic locations. The schistosomosis control programmes are affected by the drug's high cost. The high cost of praziquantel also makes treatment of animal schistosomosis in field conditions almost impractical. Control measures include control of the snail host population, provision of proper sanitary conditions and limiting animals’ access to water bodies used by human beings. Animal and human schistosomosis are prevalent in countries with poor economies and poor resources. There are many diagnostic methods for identification of schistosomosis. Affordable and field-applicable diagnostic methods are the best for control and treatment of schistosomosis. Efforts are being made for the development of vaccines for human and animal schistosomosis. Recombinant antigens like Glutathione S Transferase, Tetraspanins, Paramyosin, Fatty acid binding protein and Triose-Phosphate Isomerase are under clinical trials. © 2026 selection and editorial matter, Snehil Gupta, Arun Kumar De, Perumal Ponraj, and Debasis Bhattacharya; individual chapters, the contributors.