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One Health is a collaborative, interdisciplinary effort that seeks optimal health for people, animals, plants, and the environment. Toxoplasmosis, caused by Toxoplasma gondii, is an intracellular protozoan infection distributed worldwide, with a heteroxenous life cycle that practically affects all homeotherms and in which felines act as definitive reservoirs. Herein, we review the natural history of T. gondii, its transmission and impacts in humans, domestic animals, wildlife both terrestrial and aquatic, and ecosystems. The epidemiology, prevention, and control strategies are reviewed, with the objective of facilitating awareness of this disease and promoting transdisciplinary collaborations, integrative research, and capacity building among universities, government agencies, NGOs, policy makers, practicing physicians, veterinarians, and the general public.

Emerging infectious disease (EID) events can be traced to anthropogenic factors, including the movement of wildlife through legal and illegal trade. This paper focuses on the link between illegal wildlife trade (IWT) and infectious disease pathogens. A literature review through Web of Science and relevant conference proceedings from 1990 to 2020 resulted in documenting 82 papers and 240 identified pathogen cases. Over 60% of the findings referred to pathogens with known zoonotic potential and five cases directly referenced zoonotic spillover events. The diversity of pathogens by taxa included 44 different pathogens in birds, 47 in mammals, 16 in reptiles, two in amphibians, two in fish, and one in invertebrates. This is the highest diversity of pathogen types in reported literature related to IWT. However, it is likely not a fully representative sample due to needed augmentation of surveillance and monitoring of IWT and more frequent pathogen testing on recovered shipments. The emergence of infectious disease through human globalization has resulted in several pandemics in the last decade including SARS, MERS, avian influenza H1N1,and Ebola. We detailed the growing body of literature on this topic since 2008 and highlight the need to detect, document, and prevent spillovers from high-risk human activities, such as IWT.

Aim To explore spatial patterns of helminth parasite diversity, and to investigate three main macroecological patterns – (a) latitude–diversity relationships, (b) positive scaling between parasite and host diversity, and (c) species–area relationships – using a largely underutilized global database of helminth parasite occurrence records. Location Global. Methods We examined the London Natural History Museum’s collection of helminth parasite occurrence records, consisting of over 18,000 unique host species and 27,000 unique helminth parasite species distributed across over 350 distinct terrestrial and aquatic localities. Results We find support for latitudinal gradients in parasite diversity and a strong relationship between host and parasite diversity at the global scale. Helminth species diversity–area relationships were not detectable as a function of host body mass, but larger geographic areas supported higher parasite richness, potentially mediated through higher host richness. Main conclusions Our findings indicate that helminth parasites may obey some of the macroecological relationships found in free‐living species, suggesting that parasites may offer further support for the generality of these patterns, while offering interesting counterexamples for others. We conclude with a discussion of future directions and potential challenges in the newly emerging macroecology of infectious disease.

Rodents represent 42% of the world’s mammalian biodiversity encompassing 2,277 species populating every continent (except Antarctica) and are reservoir hosts for a wide diversity of disease agents. Thus, knowing the identity, diversity, host–pathogen relationships, and geographic distribution of rodent-borne zoonotic pathogens, is essential for predicting and mitigating zoonotic disease outbreaks. Hantaviruses are hosted by numerous rodent reservoirs. However, the diversity of rodents harboring hantaviruses is likely unknown because research is biased toward specific reservoir hosts and viruses. An up-to-date, systematic review covering all known rodent hosts is lacking. Herein, we document gaps in our knowledge of the diversity and distribution of rodent species that host hantaviruses. Of the currently recognized 681 cricetid, 730 murid, 61 nesomyid, and 278 sciurid species, we determined that 11.3, 2.1, 1.6, and 1.1%, respectively, have known associations with hantaviruses. The diversity of hantaviruses hosted by rodents and their distribution among host species supports a reassessment of the paradigm that each virus is associated with a single-host species. We examine these host–virus associations on a global taxonomic and geographical scale with emphasis on the rodent host diversity and distribution. Previous reviews have been centered on the viruses and not the mammalian hosts. Thus, we provide a perspective not previously addressed.

Background A combination of laboratory, histopathological and microbiological tests for diagnosis of prosthetic joint infection (PJI) have been strongly recommended. This study aims to characterize the accuracy of individual or group tests, such as culture of sonicate fluid, synovial fluid and peri-implant tissue, C-reactive protein (CRP) and histopathology for detection of early, delayed and late PJI. Methods A prospective study of patients undergoing hip or knee arthroplasty from February 2009 to February 2014 was performed in a Spanish tertiary health care hospital. The diagnostic accuracy of the different methods was evaluated constructing receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) curve areas. Results One hundred thirty consecutive patients were included: 18 (13.8%) early PJI, 35 (27%) delayed PJI and 77 (59.2%) late PJI. For individual parameters, the area under the ROC curve for peri-implant tissue culture was larger for early (0.917) than for delayed (0.829) and late PJI (0.778), p  = 0.033. There was a significantly larger difference for ROC area in the synovial fluid culture for delayed (0.803) than for early (0.781) and late infections (0.679), p  = 0.039. The comparison of the areas under the ROC curves for the two microbiological tests showed that sonicate fluid was significantly different from peri-implant tissue in delayed (0.951 vs 0.829, p  = 0.005) and late PJI (0.901 vs 0.778, p  = 0.000) . The conjunction of preoperative parameters, synovial fluid culture and CRP, improved the accuracy for late PJI ( p  = 0.01). The conjunction of histopathology and sonicate fluid culture increased the area under ROC curve of sonication in early (0.917 vs 1.000); p  = 0.06 and late cases (0.901 vs 0.999); p  < 0.001. Conclusion For early PJI, sonicate fluid and peri-implant tissue cultures achieve the same best sensitivity. For delayed and late PJI, sonicate fluid culture is the most sensitive individual diagnostic method. By combining histopathology and peri-implant tissue, all early, 97% of delayed and 94.8% of late cases are diagnosed. The conjunction of histopathology and sonicate fluid culture yields a sensitivity of 100% for all types of infection.

The number of pathogens known to infect humans is ever increasing. Whether such increase reflects improved surveillance and detection or actual emergence of novel pathogens is unclear. Nonetheless, infectious diseases are the second leading cause of human mortality and disability-adjusted life years lost worldwide [1], [2]. On average, three to four new pathogen species are detected in the human population every year [3]. Most of these emerging pathogens originate from nonhuman animal species.

We engaged pet salamander owners in the United States to screen their animals for two amphibian chytrid fungal pathogens Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis ( Bd ) and B . salamandrivorans ( Bsal ). We provided pet owners with a sampling kit and instructional video to swab the skin of their animals. We received 639 salamander samples from 65 species by mail, and tested them for Bd and Bsal using qPCR. We detected Bd on 1.3% of salamanders (95% CI 0.0053–0.0267) and did not detect Bsal (95% CI 0.0000–0.0071). If Bsal is present in the U.S. population of pet salamanders, it occurs at a very low prevalence. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service listed 201 species of salamanders as “injurious wildlife” under the Lacey Act (18 U.S.C. § 42) on January 28, 2016, a precautionary action to prevent the introduction of Bsal to the U.S. through the importation of salamanders. This action reduced the number of salamanders imported to the U.S. from 2015 to 2016 by 98.4%. Our results indicate that continued precautions should be taken to prevent the introduction and establishment of Bsal in the U.S., which is a hotspot of salamander biodiversity.

The critically endangered black rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis ; black rhino) experiences extinction threats from poaching in-situ. The ex-situ population, which serves as a genetic reservoir against impending extinction threats, experiences its own threats to survival related to several disease syndromes not typically observed among their wild counterparts. We performed an untargeted metabolomic analysis of serum from 30 ex-situ housed black rhinos (Eastern black rhino, EBR, n = 14 animals; Southern black rhino, SBR, n = 16 animals) and analyzed differences in metabolite profiles between subspecies, sex, and health status (healthy n = 13 vs. diseased n = 14). Of the 636 metabolites detected, several were differentially (fold change > 1.5; p  < 0.05) expressed between EBR vs. SBR (40 metabolites), female vs. male (36 metabolites), and healthy vs. diseased (22 metabolites). Results suggest dysregulation of propanoate, amino acid metabolism, and bile acid biosynthesis in the subspecies and sex comparisons. Assessment of healthy versus diseased rhinos indicates involvement of arachidonic acid metabolism, bile acid biosynthesis, and the pentose phosphate pathway in animals exhibiting inflammatory disease syndromes. This study represents the first systematic characterization of the circulating serum metabolome in the black rhinoceros. Findings further implicate mitochondrial and immune dysfunction as key contributors for the diverse disease syndromes reported in ex-situ managed black rhinos.

The concentrations of trace elements including As, Zn, Cu, Se, Pb, Hg and Cd, were determined in the blood of nesting Kemp’s ridley turtles ( Lepidochelys kempii ) at Rancho Nuevo sanctuary, Tamaulipas, Mexico during 2018–2020. The sequential concentrations analyzed were Zn> Se> Cu> As> Pb; while Cd and Hg concentrations were below the limits of detection (0.01 μg g -1 ). No significant differences were observed between the concentrations of trace elements ( p> 0 . 05 ) by year, except Se levels, possibly resulting from recorded seasonal differences in turtle size. No relationships among turtle size vs elements concentration were observed. In conclusion, essential and toxic trace elements concentrations in the blood of nesting Kemp’s ridley turtles may be a reflex of the ecosystem in which the turtles develop, that is, with low bioavailability of elements observed in the trophic webs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Black rhinoceros are critically endangered due to poaching in the wild (in situ). Globally, fewer than 200 animals are maintained as an ex situ insurance population. Unfortunately, the ex situ population faces major sustainability challenges from disease syndromes characterized by high inflammatory burdens and diverse manifestations of immunometabolic dysfunction, not known to be present among their wild counterparts. Overlapping ex situ disease phenotypes limit diagnostic specificity and highlight the need to define underlying disease mechanisms. In the present study, using a cohort of presumed clinically healthy and inflammatory black rhinoceros, we generated the first immunoproteomic profile of any endangered mammal species and identified 1,311 immune cell proteins. However, no significant differences were detected among clinical phenotypes. Therefore, we applied unsupervised machine learning approaches to detect molecular features suggestive of healthy versus inflammatory phenotypes. Forty-three proteins associated with inflammatory pathways were differentially expressed in a cohort of samples derived from both presumed healthy and inflammatory phenotypes. Results suggest subclinical disease may be relatively widespread ex situ, and that animals experience temporal fluctuations in inflammatory state over time. Findings implicate neutrophil degranulation and dysregulation of the oral-gut-liver axis as drivers of disease syndromes of ex situ black rhinoceros. The forty-three proteins associated with inflammatory pathways represent candidate inflammatory biomarkers to be assessed for clinical applications in future validation studies. Upon validation, these candidate biomarkers may guide management practices to strengthen long-term population sustainability.