Sarcocystis is one of the most prevalent parasites of livestock and also infects many wild mammals, birds, and humans. Written by the authors who pioneered studies of Sarcocystosis of domestic animals, Sarcocystosis of Animals and Humans, Second Edition provides a current and comprehensive review of Sarcocystis and the infections it causes in anima

Key features: Written by the scientist who named this parasite and was the first to set up proper diagnostic techniques Serves as the first ever book to provide information on the parasite structure, biology, pathogenesis, clinical signs, epidemiology, prevention, and control of neosporosis Covers both approaches toward preventing & controlling this disease: Developing an efficacious vaccine and sound cattle management practices Contains a wealth of illustrations, including many of the author's original photographs of the parasite Provides basic information on immunologic and molecular aspects of the disease Abortion is a worldwide problem in the livestock industry accounting for annual economic losses of billions of dollars, and N. caninum is a major cause of it. Neosporosis is a newly recognized disease of animals. Until 1988 it was misdiagnosed as toxoplasmosis. Considerable progress in understanding the biology of neosporosis has been made in the last 30 years, resulting in more than 2,000 scientific publications. The economic importance of abortion in cattle, and the availability of knowledge, reagents, and technology used to study toxoplasmosis, have contributed to the rapid progress in understanding the biology of neosporosis. Written by pioneers in this field, Neosporosis in Animals presents a comprehensive summary of the biology of neosporosis, starting with chapter 1 on the historical background of the discovery of the disease. Subsequent chapters deal with general aspects of the biology of N. caninum (chapter 2), techniques (chapter 3), and the disease caused by this parasite in cattle (chapter 4), dogs (chapter 5), and all other animals including sheep, pigs, primates and humans (chapters 6-18). This book provides, for the first time in a single authoritative source, a complete account of the structure, biology, clinical disease, diagnosis, epidemiology, treatment, attempts at immunoprophylaxis, and control in all hosts. There are 175 illustrations and tables devoted to the life cycle, structure of parasitic stages, and lesions. More than 2100 references are cited, allowing the reader to locate additional information on specific topics in an efficient way. This book will be useful to a broad range of researchers in biology and veterinarians.

Toxoplasmosis is caused by the globally distributed protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii (phylum Apicomplexa); the disease can be clinically important for almost all homeothermic animals, including birds and humans. Toxoplasmosis course involves general clinical signs, such as fever, anorexia, or dyspnea, and more specific signs with neural, respiratory, cutaneous, or ocular involvement. Because of the wide range of clinical signs, the diagnosis in domestic and pet animals can be complicated. Hence, this review aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of some scarcely discussed aspects of toxoplasmosis, such as ocular and cutaneous manifestations, congenital infections, influence of T. gondii genotype on clinical toxoplasmosis, and recent findings regarding differential diagnosis. This review could be of special interest to clinicians and researchers.

Toxoplasma gondii is a major zoonotic agent which may cause harmful effects mainly in pregnant and immunocompromised hosts. Despite many efforts on its genetic characterization, an entirely clear picture of the population structure in Europe has not been achieved yet. The present study aimed to summarize the available genotyping information and to map the distribution of circulating strains. There is consensus on type II T. gondii genotypes prevailing in Europe, but the absence of harmonization in the use of typing methods limits detailed knowledge. Standardized, high-end typing tools and integrative strategies are needed to fill the gaps and complete an accurate image of the T. gondii genetic population in Europe.

Felidae as definitive hosts for Toxoplasma gondii play a major role in transmission to all warm-blooded animals trough oocysts dissemination. Therefore the current comprehensive study was performed to determine the global status of T. gondii infection in domestic and wild felids aiming to provide comprehensive data of interest for further intervention approaching the One Health perspective. Different databases were searched by utilizing particular key words for publications related to T. gondii infecting domestic and wild feline host species, worldwide, from 1970 to 2020. The review of 337 reports showed that the seroprevalence of T. gondii in domestic cats and wild felids was estimated in 37.5% (95% CI 34.7–40.3) (I² = 98.3%, P < 0.001) and 64% (95% CI 60–67.9) (I² = 88%, P < 0.0001), respectively. The global pooled prevalence of oocysts in the fecal examined specimens from domestic cats was estimated in 2.6% (95% CI 1.9–3.3) (I² = 96.1%, P < 0.0001), and that in fecal samples from wild felids was estimated in 2.4% (95% CI 1.1–4.2) (I² = 86.4%, P < 0.0001). In addition, from 13,252 examined soil samples in 14 reviewed studies, the pooled occurrence of T. gondii oocysts was determined in 16.2% (95% CI 7.66–27.03%). The observed high rates of anti-T. gondii antibodies seroprevalence levels and oocyst excretion frequency in the felids, along with soil (environmental) contamination with oocysts may constitute a potential threat to animal and public health, and data will result of interest in further prophylaxis programs.

Three recent studies of Blastocystis epidemiology in mammalian hosts identified four novel sequences that appeared to share B. lapemi as the most similar sequence. However, full-length ssu rRNA gene sequences were not available to confirm the validity of these new subtypes. In the present study, Nanopore MinION sequencing was used to obtain full-length reference sequences for each of the new subtypes. Additionally, phylogenetic analyses and pairwise distance comparisons were performed to confirm the validity of each of these new subtypes. We propose that the novel sequences described in this study should be assigned the subtype designations ST35-ST38. The full-length reference sequences of ST35-ST38 will assist in accurate sequence descriptions in future studies of Blastocystis epidemiology and subtype diversity.