Schistosomiasis is one of the most prevalent, insidious and serious of the tropical parasitic diseases. Although the effective anthelmintic drug, praziquantel, is widely available and cheap, it does not protect against re-infection, drug-resistant schistosome may evolve and mass drug administration programmes based around praziquantel are probably unsustainable long term. Whereas protective anti-schistosome vaccines are not yet available, the zoonotic nature of Schistosoma japonicum provides a novel approach for developing a transmission-blocking veterinary vaccine in domestic animals, especially bovines, which are major reservoir hosts, being responsible for up to 90% of environmental egg contamination in China and the Philippines. However, a greater knowledge of schistosome immunology is required to understand the processes associated with anti-schistosome protective immunity and to reinforce the rationale for vaccine development against schistosomiasis japonica. Importantly as well, improved diagnostic tests, with high specificity and sensitivity, which are simple, rapid and able to diagnose light S. japonicum infections, are required to determine the extent of transmission interruption and the complete elimination of schistosomiasis following control efforts. This article discusses aspects of the host immune response in schistosomiasis, the current status of vaccine development against S. japonicum and reviews approaches for diagnosing and detecting schistosome infections in mammalian hosts.

Visual displays of data in the parasitology literature are often presented in a way which is not very informative regarding the distribution of the data. An example being simple barcharts with half an error bar on top to display the distribution of parasitaemia and biomarkers of host immunity. Such displays obfuscate the shape of the data distribution through displaying too few statistical measures to explain the spread of all the data and selecting statistical measures which are influenced by skewness and outliers. We describe more informative, yet simple, visual representations of the data distribution commonly used in statistics and provide guidance with regards to the display of estimates of population parameters (e.g. population mean) and measures of precision (e.g. 95% confidence interval) for statistical inference. In this article we focus on visual displays for numerical data and demonstrate such displays using an example dataset consisting of total IgG titres in response to three Plasmodium blood antigens measured in pregnant women and parasitaemia measurements from the same study. This tutorial aims to highlight the importance of displaying the data distribution appropriately and the role such displays have in selecting statistics to summarize its distribution and perform statistical inference.

Schistosomiasis is a significant cause of human morbidity and mortality. We performed a genome-wide transcriptional survey of liver biopsies obtained from Chinese patients with chronic schistosomiasis only, or chronic schistosomiasis with a current or past history of viral hepatitis B. Both disease groups were compared with patients with no prior history or indicators of any liver disease. Analysis showed in the main, downregulation in gene expression, particularly those involved in signal transduction via EIF2 signalling and mTOR signalling, as were genes associated with cellular remodelling. Focusing on immune associated pathways, genes were generally downregulated. However, a set of three genes associated with granulocytes, MMP7, CLDN7, CXCL6 were upregulated. Differential gene profiles unique to schistosomiasis included the gene Granulin which was decreased despite being generally considered a marker for liver disease, and IGBP2 which is associated with increased liver size, and was the most upregulated gene in schistosomiasis only patients, all of which presented with hepatomegaly. The unique features of gene expression, in conjunction with previous reports in the murine model of the cellular composition of granulomas, granuloma formation and recovery, provide an increased understanding of the molecular immunopathology and general physiological processes underlying hepatic schistosomiasis.

Inter-simple sequence repeats markers were used to determinate the genetic variability of Fasciola hepatica populations recovered from sheep and cattle from Spain (Sp1, Sp2, Sp3 and Sp4), UK (Eng), Ireland (Ir) and Mexico (Mex). Twenty five primers were tested but only five produced 39 reproducible bands, being 71·79% polymorphic bands. This percentage ranged from 10·26% in Sp4 to 48·72% in Sp1, and per host between 28·21 and 48·72% in sheep and between 10·26 and 38·46% in cattle. This relatively low range of genetic diversity within populations, with a mean of 34·40%, implies that a large proportion of variation resided among populations. The population differentiation (Gst = 0·547) indicated that 54·7% of variation is due to differences between populations and 45·3% due to differences within population. The Nei's distance ranged between 0·091 and 0·230 in sheep and between 0·150 and 0·337 in cattle. The genetic relationships between populations and individuals were shown by a UPGMA dendrogram and a principal coordinate analysis; both grouped all populations separately from Sp4, a population of from the Midwest of Spain with the lowest level of diversity. Small genetic distances were observed between Eng and Ir, on the one hand, and Sp1, Sp2, Sp3, from the Northwest of Spain, together with Mex, on the other.

Prevention of heartworm disease caused by Dirofilaria immitis in domestic dogs and cats relies on a single drug class, the macrocyclic lactones (MLs). Recently, it has been demonstrated that ML-resistant D. immitis are circulating in the Mississippi Delta region of the USA, but the prevalence and impact of these resistant parasites remains unknown. We review published studies that demonstrated resistance in D.immitis, along with our current understanding of its mechanisms. Efforts to develop in vitro tests for resistance have not yet yielded a suitable assay, so testing infected animals for microfilariae that persist in the face of ML treatment may be the best current option. Since the vast majority of D. immitis populations continue to be drug-sensitive, protected dogs are likely to be infected with only a few parasites and experience relatively mild disease. In cats, infection with small numbers of worms can cause severe disease and so the clinical consequences of drug resistance may be more severe. Since melarsomine dihydrochloride, the drug used to remove adult worms, is not an ML, the ML-resistance should have no impact on our ability to treat diseased animals. A large refugium of heartworms that are not exposed to drugs exists in unprotected dogs and in wild canids, which may limit the development and spread of resistance alleles.

Traditionally, parasitology has been concerned with the harmful effects of parasitic organisms; it is basically an applied science. Since its founding in the field of medicine, and later in veterinary medicine, parasitology has been mainly devoted to generating knowledge, which is applicable to parasite control and management, and eventually to their eradication. However, the complexity of parasitism, as revealed over recent decades by workers in various specialisms of parasitology, makes the application of management and control measures very difficult in natural environments. This is particularly true in the marine realm, where however some applied aspects of parasitology, other than those devoted to control and management of parasites, have been shown to be of great importance for fisheries, human health, biological control of introduced species and environmental sciences (Rohde, 2002). The relationship of parasitology with mariculture practices, which are carried out mostly on artificial and controlled systems, follows a more classical approach, focusing on the development of strategies of prevention, management and control of pathogens.

The coevolutionary relationships between avian malaria parasites and their hosts influence the host specificity, geographical distribution and pathogenicity of these parasites. However, to understand fine scale coevolutionary host–parasite relationships, robust and widespread sampling from closely related hosts is needed. We thus sought to explore the coevolutionary history of avian Plasmodium and the widespread African sunbirds, family Nectariniidae. These birds are distributed throughout Africa and occupy a variety of habitats. Considering the role that habitat plays in influencing host-specificity and the role that host-specificity plays in coevolutionary relationships, African sunbirds provide an exceptional model system to study the processes that govern the distribution and diversity of avian malaria. Here we evaluated the coevolutionary histories using a multi-gene phylogeny for Nectariniidae and avian Plasmodium found in Nectariniidae. We then assessed the host–parasite biogeography and the structuring of parasite assemblages. We recovered Plasmodium lineages concurrently in East, West, South and Island regions of Africa. However, several Plasmodium lineages were recovered exclusively within one respective region, despite being found in widely distributed hosts. In addition, we inferred the biogeographic history of these parasites and provide evidence supporting a model of biotic diversification in avian Plasmodium of African sunbirds.

The North American opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is the definitive host for at least three named species of Sarcocystis: Sarcocystis falcatula, Sarcocystis neurona and Sarcocystis speeri. The South American opossums (Didelphis albiventris, Didelphis marsupialis and Didelphis aurita) are definitive hosts for S. falcatula and S. lindsayi. The sporocysts of these Sarcocystis species are similar morphologically. They are also not easily distinguished genetically because of the difficulties of DNA extraction from sporocysts and availability of distinguishing genetic markers. Some of these species can be distinguished by bioassay; S. neurona and S. speeri are infective to gamma interferon gene knockout (KO) mice, but not to budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus); whereas S. falcatula and S. lindsayi are infective to budgerigars but not to KO mice. The natural intermediate host of S. speeri is unknown. In the present study, development of sarcocysts of S. speeri in the KO mice is described. Sarcocysts were first seen at 12 days post-inoculation (p.i.), and they became macroscopic (up to 4 mm long) by 25 days p.i. The structure of the sarcocyst wall did not change from the time bradyzoites had formed at 50–220 days p.i. Sarcocysts contained unique villar protrusions, ‘type 38’. The polymerase chain reaction amplifications and sequences analysis of three nuclear loci (18S rRNA, 28S rRNA and ITS1) and two mitochondrial loci (cox1 and cytb) of S. speeri isolate from an Argentinean opossum (D. albiventris) confirmed its membership among species of Sarcocystis and indicated an especially close relationship to another parasite in this genus that employs opossums as its definitive host, S. neurona. These results should be useful in finding natural intermediate host of S. speeri.

It is well established that pregnant women are at an increased risk of Plasmodium falciparum infection when compared to non-pregnant individuals and limited epidemiological data suggest Plasmodium vivax risk also increases with pregnancy. The risk of P. falciparum declines with successive pregnancies due to the acquisition of immunity to pregnancy-specific P. falciparum variants. However, despite similar declines in P. vivax risk with successive pregnancies, there is a paucity of evidence P. vivax-specific immunity. Cross-species immunity, as well as immunological and physiological changes that occur during pregnancy may influence the susceptibility to both P. vivax and P. falciparum. The period following delivery, the postpartum period, is relatively understudied and available epidemiological data suggests that it may also be a period of increased risk of infection to Plasmodium spp. Here we review the literature and directly compare and contrast the epidemiology, clinical pathogenesis and immunological features of P. vivax and P. falciparum in pregnancy, with a particular focus on studies performed in areas co-endemic for both species. Furthermore, we review the intriguing epidemiology literature of both P. falciparum and P. vivax postpartum and relate observations to the growing literature pertaining to malaria immunology in the postpartum period.

Protozoan parasites Leishmania donovani (family: Trypanosomatidae) cause fatal visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and the infection relapses in apparently cured population as post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) in the Indian subcontinent. In recent years co-infection of another Trypanosomatid parasite Leptomonas with L. donovani during VL/PKDL in this region has become prominent. The observation of clinically lesser-known insect parasite, Leptomonas in leishmaniasis is intriguing to researchers. The presence of Leishmania look alike Leptomonas in the cultures of clinical isolates of Leishmania has been worrisome to those, who prefer to work with pure Leishmania cultures for drug and vaccine development or immune response studies. The exact implications of such a co-habitation, which might lead to a delay in the diagnostics of VL and elevate mortality, need a thorough investigation. Also whether Leptomonas is involved in leishmaniasis manifestation needs to be ascertained. Thus we are currently witnessing a new paradigm of a parasitic co-infection in VL/PKDL cases in India and this review outlines various opportunities for further research in understanding such emerging co-infection.

African trypanosomes have been around for more than 100 million years, and have adapted to survival in a very wide host range. While various indigenous African mammalian host species display a tolerant phenotype towards this parasitic infection, and hence serve as perpetual reservoirs, many commercially important livestock species are highly disease susceptible. When considering humans, they too display a highly sensitive disease progression phenotype for infections with Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense or Trypanosoma brucei gambiense, while being intrinsically resistant to infections with other trypanosome species. As extracellular trypanosomes proliferate and live freely in the bloodstream and lymphatics, they are constantly exposed to the immune system. Due to co-evolution, this environment however no longer poses a hostile threat, but has become the niche environment where trypanosomes thrive and obligatory await transmission through the bites of tsetse flies or other haematophagic vectors, ideally without causing severe side infection-associated pathology to their host. Hence, African trypanosomes have acquired various mechanisms to manipulate and control the host immune response, evading effective elimination. Despite the extensive research into trypanosomosis over the past 40 years, many aspects of the anti-parasite immune response remain to be solved and no vaccine is currently available. Here we review the recent work on the different escape mechanisms employed by African Trypanosomes to ensure infection chronicity and transmission potential.

To determine the involvement of the actin cytoskeleton in macrogametocyte growth and oocyst wall formation, freshly purified macrogametocytes and oocysts were stained with Oregon Green 514 conjugated phalloidin to visualize F-actin microfilaments, while Evans blue staining was used to detect type 1 wall forming bodies (WFB1s) and the outer oocyst wall. The double-labelled parasites were then analysed at various stages of sexual development using three-dimensional confocal microscopy. The results showed F-actin filaments were distributed throughout the entire cytoplasm of mature Eimeria maxima macrogametocytes forming a web-like meshwork of actin filaments linking the type 1 WFBs together into structures resembling ‘beads on a string’. At the early stages of oocyst wall formation, F-actin localization changed in alignment with the egg-shaped morphology of the forming oocysts with F-actin microfilaments making direct contact with the WFB1s. In tissue oocysts, the labelled actin cytoskeleton was situated underneath the forming outer layer of the oocyst wall. Treatment of macrogametocytes in vitro with the actin depolymerizing agents, Cytochalasin D and Latrunculin, led to a reduction in the numbers of mature WFB1s in the cytoplasm of the developing macrogametocytes, indicating that the actin plays an important role in WFB1 transport and oocyst wall formation in E. maxima.

The effects of plerocercoids of the cestode Triaenophorus nodulosus infecting the livers of native Eurasian perch Perca fluviatilis and non-native pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus was investigated in 17 sites along the Moselle watershed. With a single exception, infected individuals were not observed in the main channel whether or not northern pike Esox lucius, a final host, was present. In ponds where the pike was present, the prevalence of T. nodulosus averaged 86% in Eurasian perch and 15% in pumpkinseed. The parasite was not present at all in ponds when pike were absent. Parasite load, hepatosomatic index (HSI), gonadosomatic index (GSI) and body condition index (CI) were compared between hosts in one site where parasite prevalence and fish abundance was highest. HSI in infected perch was significantly higher than in uninfected perch, whereas no differences in HSI were detected between infected and uninfected pumpkinseed. While perch were more frequently infected and had a greater average parasite load than pumpkinseed, there were no significant differences in either indicator between the two species. Furthermore, no significant differences in GSI or CI were observed between infected and uninfected fish in either species, by either gender or maturity stage. We hypothesize that pumpkinseed is more resistant to the parasite or less likely to feed upon infected copepods than perch.

Skin schistosomula can be prepared by collecting them after isolated mouse skin have been penetrated by cercariae in vitro. The schistosomula can also migrate out of isolated mouse skin penetrated by cercariae in vitro and from mouse skin penetrated by cercariae in vivo. Schistosomula can also be produced from cercariae applied through a syringe or in a vortex. When certain surface properties of the different forms of schistosomula were compared, those migrating from mouse skin penetrated by cercariae in vivo or in vitro had greatly increased permeability to membrane impermeant molecules such as Lucifer yellow and high molecular weight dextrans. These migrating forms also possessed surfaces which showed greatly enhanced uptake into internal membrane vesicles of the dye FM 143, a marker for endocytosis. This greatly enhanced activity and permeability of the surfaces of tissue migrating schistosomula is likely to be of great importance in the adaptation to the new host.

A dataset of bacterial diversity found in mites was compiled from 193 publications (from 1964 to January 2015). A total of 143 mite species belonging to the 3 orders (Mesostigmata, Sarcoptiformes and Trombidiformes) were recorded and found to be associated with approximately 150 bacteria species (in 85 genera, 51 families, 25 orders and 7 phyla). From the literature, the intracellular symbiont Cardinium, the scrub typhus agent Orientia, and Wolbachia (the most prevalent symbiont of arthropods) were the dominant mite-associated bacteria, with approximately 30 mite species infected each. Moreover, a number of bacteria of medical and veterinary importance were also reported from mites, including species from the genera Rickettsia, Anaplasma, Bartonella, Francisella, Coxiella, Borrelia, Salmonella, Erysipelothrix and Serratia. Significant differences in bacterial infection patterns among mite taxa were identified. These data will not only be useful for raising awareness of the potential for mites to transmit disease, but also enable a deeper understanding of the relationship of symbionts with their arthropod hosts, and may facilitate the development of intervention tools for disease vector control. This review provides a comprehensive overview of mite-associated bacteria and is a valuable reference database for future research on mites of agricultural, veterinary and/or medical importance.

This study reports on the prevalence and severity of infections caused by the parasitic dinoflagellate, Hematodinium in juvenile edible crabs (Cancer pagurus) found in 2 intertidal survey sites (Mumbles Head and Oxwich Bay) in the Bristol Channel, UK. Crabs were assessed for the presence and severity of Hematodinium infections by the histological examination of infected tissues. Such infections were found to exhibit a seasonal trend in the 2 study areas with high numbers of animals (ca. 30%) infected in the spring to summer but with low severity. Conversely, in November only ca. 10% of crabs were infected but these animals had large numbers of parasites in their haemolymph and other tissues. At this time, the carapace and underlying tissues of infected crabs had the chalky, pinkish-orange appearance that is characteristic of this disease. Hematodinium-infected crabs ranged in size from 12 to 74 mm carapace width. Overall, it is concluded that the high prevalence of infection of juvenile crabs in this area may have implications for the sustainability of the edible crab fishery in the Bristol Channel.

Parasite dynamics can be mediated by host behaviours such as sociality, and seasonal changes in aggregation may influence risk of parasite exposure. We used little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) captured during the autumn mating/swarming period to test the hypothesis that seasonal and demographic-based variation in sociality affect ectoparasitism. We predicted that ectoparasitism would: (1) be higher for adult females and young of the year (YOY) than adult males because of female coloniality; (2) increase for adult males throughout swarming because of increasing contact with females; (3) decrease for adult females and YOY throughout swarming because of reduced coloniality and transmission of individual ectoparasites to males; (4) be similar for male and female YOY because vertical transmission from adult females should be similar. Ectoparasitism was lowest for adult males and increased for males during swarming, but some effects of demographic were unexpected. Contrary to our prediction, ectoparasitism increased for adult females throughout swarming and YOY males also hosted fewer ectoparasites compared with adult and YOY females. Interestingly, females in the best body condition had the highest parasite loads. Our results suggest that host energetic constraints associated with future reproduction affect pre-hibernation parasite dynamics in bats.

The use of aromatic plants and their essential oils for ectoparasite treatment is a field of growing interest. Several species of birds regularly introduce aromatic herbs into their nests putatively to reduce parasites. The behaviour is most often seen in cavity nesting birds and after nest building has finished. The plants are included in a non-structural manner and are often strongly aromatic. Various different hypotheses have been proposed regarding the function of this behaviour; from the plants altering some non-living factor in the nest (crypsis, water loss and insulation hypotheses) to them being involved in mate selection (mate hypothesis) or even having a beneficial effect, direct or indirect, on chicks (drug or nest protection hypothesis, NPH). Many studies have been carried out over the years observing and experimentally testing these hypotheses. This review focuses on studies involving the most popular of these hypotheses, the NPH: that plants decrease nest parasites or pathogens, thereby conveying positive effects to the chicks, allowing the behaviour to evolve. Studies providing observational evidence towards this hypothesis and those experimentally testing it are discussed.

From hundreds of independent transitions from a free-living existence to a parasitic mode of life, separate parasite lineages have converged over evolutionary time to share traits and exploit their hosts in similar ways. Here, we first summarize the evidence that, at a phenotypic level, eukaryotic parasite lineages have all converged toward only six general parasitic strategies: parasitoid, parasitic castrator, directly transmitted parasite, trophically transmitted parasite, vector-transmitted parasite or micropredator. We argue that these strategies represent adaptive peaks, with the similarities among unrelated taxa within any strategy extending to all basic aspects of host exploitation and transmission among hosts and transcending phylogenetic boundaries. Then, we extend our examination of convergent patterns by looking at the evolution of parasite genomes. Despite the limited taxonomic coverage of sequenced parasite genomes currently available, we find some evidence of parallel evolution among unrelated parasite taxa with respect to genome reduction or compaction, and gene losses or gains. Matching such changes in parasite genomes with the broad phenotypic traits that define the convergence of parasites toward only six strategies of host exploitation is not possible at present. Nevertheless, as more parasite genomes become available, we may be able to detect clear trends in the evolution of parasitic genome architectures representing true convergent adaptive peaks, the genomic equivalents of the phenotypic strategies used by all parasites.