{"title":"Molecular characterization and subtype analysis of Blastocystis sp. in captive wildlife in Henan, China.","authors":"Zhaohui Cui, Xiyao Huang, Sulan Zhang, Kaifang Li, Aili Zhang, Qichen Li, Yutong Zhang, Junqiang Li, Meng Qi","doi":"10.1051/parasite/2025006","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Blastocystis sp. is a zoonotic intestinal protozoan that is ubiquitous globally, residing in the gastrointestinal tracts of both humans and various animals. In the present study, a PCR-sequencing tool based on the SSU rRNA gene was employed to investigate the prevalence and subtypes of Blastocystis spp. in 204 fresh fecal samples collected from 20 captive wildlife species from a bird park in Henan Province, Central China. Overall, Blastocystis was present in 13.73% (28 out of 204) of the samples and 25% (5 out of 20) of the species. A total of four zoonotic subtypes of Blastocystis sp. were found: ST1, ST3, ST5, and ST27, with the latter being the most prevalent, accounting for 35.71% (10 out of 28) of the 5 species positive for Blastocystis sp. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of Blastocystis ST27 in birds in China, namely bar-headed goose (Anser indicus) and peafowl (Pavo muticus). The data suggest that captive wildlife, particularly those in bird parks, may frequently be infected with this zoonotic pathogen. Consequently, these animals may serve as potential reservoirs for zoonotic infections in humans.</p>","PeriodicalId":19796,"journal":{"name":"Parasite","volume":"32 ","pages":"11"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11832164/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Parasite","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1051/parasite/2025006","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/2/17 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PARASITOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Blastocystis sp. is a zoonotic intestinal protozoan that is ubiquitous globally, residing in the gastrointestinal tracts of both humans and various animals. In the present study, a PCR-sequencing tool based on the SSU rRNA gene was employed to investigate the prevalence and subtypes of Blastocystis spp. in 204 fresh fecal samples collected from 20 captive wildlife species from a bird park in Henan Province, Central China. Overall, Blastocystis was present in 13.73% (28 out of 204) of the samples and 25% (5 out of 20) of the species. A total of four zoonotic subtypes of Blastocystis sp. were found: ST1, ST3, ST5, and ST27, with the latter being the most prevalent, accounting for 35.71% (10 out of 28) of the 5 species positive for Blastocystis sp. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of Blastocystis ST27 in birds in China, namely bar-headed goose (Anser indicus) and peafowl (Pavo muticus). The data suggest that captive wildlife, particularly those in bird parks, may frequently be infected with this zoonotic pathogen. Consequently, these animals may serve as potential reservoirs for zoonotic infections in humans.
期刊介绍:
Parasite is an international open-access, peer-reviewed, online journal publishing high quality papers on all aspects of human and animal parasitology. Reviews, articles and short notes may be submitted. Fields include, but are not limited to: general, medical and veterinary parasitology; morphology, including ultrastructure; parasite systematics, including entomology, acarology, helminthology and protistology, and molecular analyses; molecular biology and biochemistry; immunology of parasitic diseases; host-parasite relationships; ecology and life history of parasites; epidemiology; therapeutics; new diagnostic tools.
All papers in Parasite are published in English. Manuscripts should have a broad interest and must not have been published or submitted elsewhere. No limit is imposed on the length of manuscripts, but they should be concisely written. Papers of limited interest such as case reports, epidemiological studies in punctual areas, isolated new geographical records, and systematic descriptions of single species will generally not be accepted, but might be considered if the authors succeed in demonstrating their interest.