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Blastocystis is the most common gastrointestinal protozoan parasite of humans and many vertebrates. This study was carried out to investigate the prevalence and determination subtype (ST) of Blastocystis in domestic ruminants of Shahrekord County, southwestern Iran. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 330 ruminant fecal samples (107 cows, 115 sheep, and 108 goats) were evaluated by parasitological methods (direct wet mount microscopic examination and formalin-ether concentration), Giemsa staining, In vitro xenic culture (The modified Dobell and Laidlaw culture method), polymerase chain reaction, and sequencing from 2018 to 2019, then data were analyzed using SPSS software version 21. The overall Blastocystis positive in ruminants was 14.2% and the frequency of Blastocystis sp. in cattle, sheep, and goats were 0.93%, 17.4%, and 24.1% respectively. Molecular diagnosis techniques revealed that ruminants were infected with four STs (genotypes) of Blastocystis including ST5(21.3%), ST7(2.1%), ST10(17.1%) and ST14(57.4%). Also, the STs identified in cows were ST10, and the observed STs in sheep were ST5 (40%), ST7 (3%), ST10 (5%), ST14 (45%), and one unknown subspecies. Goats were infected by ST5 (7.7%), ST10 (23.1%), and ST14 (69.2%). In this study, ST14 was identified as the most common subtype of Blastocystis sp. that was not common between humans and livestock, meanwhile, ST5 and ST7 are common between humans and animals accounted 21.3% and 2.1% of the positive cases, respectively, and reinforces the hypothesis that ruminants are reservoirs of blastocystosis in humans.

Gastrointestinal parasitism is a health issue in livestock, particularly in non-intensive farming systems. This research evaluated the prevalence and risk factors associated with gastrointestinal helminths in goats from three ecosystems in Peru: the Andean shrubland (Ancash), dry forest (Lambayeque), and coastal valley (Lima). The study used a cross-sectional design, with random sampling of goats from extensive production systems in each ecosystem. A total of 819 fecal samples were collected and analyzed using qualitative and quantitative parasitological methods. Additionally, coproculture was performed to identify infective larvae of nematodes. The FAMACHA© index was used to assess anemia levels, while body condition scores were recorded to evaluate the nutritional status of the animals. The highest prevalence was recorded in the Andean shrubland (74.2%), followed by the dry forest (63.1%), whereas the coastal valley had the lowest prevalence (59.3%). The most frequently identified helminths were strongyle-type eggs (49.9%) and Skrjabinema sp. (33.7%), while Moniezia sp. (5.4%) and Fasciola hepatica (1.1%) were detected at lower frequencies. The identification of L3 infective larvae of Haemonchus sp., Trichostrongylus sp., Cooperia sp., Strongyloides sp., Oesophagostomum sp., Bunostomum sp., and Teladorsagia sp. highlighted the diversity of gastrointestinal nematodes affecting goats in Peru. Multivariable analysis revealed that anemia (FAMACHA ≥ 3; PR = 1.14), poor body condition (BCS 1–2; PR = 1.03), and age (2–6 teeths or full dentition; PR = 1.12 and 1.08, respectively) were associated with increased infection risk. Males had lower prevalence than females (PR = 0.80), and goats raised in the dry forest and coastal valley had lower risk than those from the Andean shrubland. These findings highlight the influence of physiological status and environmental conditions on parasite burden in goat herds.

In Sudan, resistance to benzimidazoles has been reported recently in cattle and goats from South Darfur. Herein, ivermectin efficacy against gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) was evaluated in sheep and goats in three study areas in South Darfur. The faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) was used to evaluate the efficacy of ivermectin in sheep and goats naturally infected with GINs in the region of Bulbul (goats: n = 106), Kass (goats: n = 40) and Nyala (Domaia (sheep: n = 47, goats: n = 77) and the University farm (goats: n = 52)), using different treatment plans, and the efficacy was evaluated 12 days after treatment. Ivermectin efficacy was also evaluated in goats experimentally infected using local Haemonchus contortus isolates from Kass and Nyala. Nematodes surviving ivermectin treatment in goats in Bulbul and Nyala were harvested and larvae used to infect worm-free male sheep ( n = 6, ≤6 months old). Infected sheep were dosed subcutaneously with ivermectin every eight days with increasing doses from 0.2 mg/kg to 1.6 mg/kg bodyweight (bw). Reduced ivermectin efficacy was identified in sheep and goats in the four study locations. Using a paired statistic, the efficacy of a therapeutic dose in sheep was 75.6% (90% upper credible limit (UCrL): 77.5%), while twice the recommended dose led to a reduction of 92.6% (90% UCrL: 93.3%). In goats, the FECRs of a therapeutic dose were 72.9–95.3% (90% UCrL range: 73.6–95.7%) in Bulbul, Nyala Domaia, Nyala University farm and Kass. Twice the dose recommended for goats in Bulbul revealed a 90% UCrL of 87.6%. All post-treatment faecal cultures contained only Haemonchus spp. larvae. The experimental infection trials in sheep and goats supported our findings from field trials and calculated upper 90% CrL of below 98.9%. For the first time highly ivermectin resistant H . contortus populations have been identified in sheep and goats in Sudan, and resistance was experimentally confirmed.

Cystic echinococcosis control in South American countries requires a comprehensive integrative ‘One Health’ approach. While insular nations have seen successful in their elimination programmes, South American countries face persistent challenges in hostile environments, with Echinococcus granulosus s.l. , posing a significant public health concern. Vaccination of intermediate hosts has demonstrated the efficacy of the EG95 vaccine in reducing transmission rates. For example, since 2009, Rio Negro Province in Argentina has added, with marked success, the EG95 vaccine to the control programme, supplementing dog deworming. The Aysen Region of Chile has also reported encouraging preliminary results in reducing cyst prevalence in vaccinated sheep after 3 years of vaccination. The challenges in aligning control strategies with socio-cultural factors, especially in indigenous communities, underlines the need for context-specific strategies. The Rio Negro programme demonstrated commendable compliance, underlining the importance of community engagement in achieving lasting success. The most promising strategies for effective echinococcosis control involved dog deworming and the routine vaccination of sheep and/or goats, underscoring the importance of sustained implementation until all grazing animals have been replaced. For lasting success, these interventions need to be combined with a robust surveillance system.

Raising small ruminants is the main source of income for farmers in Pakistan especially in rural areas of Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab. Despite having large sheep population, the prevalence of intra-erythrocytic protozoa, Theileria ( T .) lestoquardi , has never been reported from this area. This study was conducted to fill this knowledge gap and 333 blood samples of apparently healthy small ruminants (168 sheep and 165 goats) along with their epidemiological data were collected from Dera Ghazi Khan district during August till November 2022. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis amplified a 785 base pair amplicon specific for the Merozoite surface antigen ( ms 1–2 ) gene of T . lestoquardi in 2 out of the 168 (3.3%) sheep blood samples, while no goat blood sample out of 165 was found to be infected with T . lestoquardi . DNA sequencing confirmed the presence of Theileria lestoquardi in both samples and phylogenetic analysis revealed that these amplicon resembled the partial ms 1–2 gene sequences detected in small ruminants from Pakistan, India Iran and Egypt. All the studied epidemiological factors (age, sex, breed, size of herd, dogs with herd, composition of herd, size of herd and Tick burden on sheep) were not found associated with the prevalence of T . lestoquardi . In conclusion, this study reports a low prevalence of T . lestoquardi infection in the Dera Ghazi Khan District of Punjab, Pakistan. The data generated from this work will help pave the way for the prophylactic detection and control of ovine and caprine theileriosis in the region.

Dicrocoelium lancet flukes cause significant production loss in ruminant livestock. Although co-infection with multiple Dicrocoelium species within a host is common, techniques for studying the composition of these complex parasite communities are lacking. The pathogenicity, epidemiology, and therapeutic susceptibility of different helminth species vary, and little is known about the interactions that take place between co-infecting species and their hosts. Here, we describe the first applicationof metabarcoding deep amplicon sequencing method to studythe Dicrocoelium species in sheep and goats. First, rDNA ITS-2 sequences of four Dicrocoelium species ( Dicrocoelium dendriticum , Dicrocoelium hospes , Dicrocoelium orientalis , and Dicrocoelium chinensis ) were extracted from the NCBI public database. Phylogenetic analysis revealed separate clades of Dicrocoelium species; hence, molecular differentiation between each species is possible in co-infections. Second, 202 flukes belonging to seventeen host populations (morphologically verified as belonging to the Dicrocoelium genus) were evaluated to determine the deep amplicon sequencing read threshold of an individual fluke for each of the four species. The accuracy of the method in proportional quantification of samples collected from single hosts was further assessed. Overall, 198 (98.01%) flukes were confirmed as D . dendriticum and 1.98% produced no reads. The comparison of genetic distances between rDNA ITS-2 revealed 86% to 98% identity between the Dicrocoelium species. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated a distinct clustering of species, apart from D . orientalis and D . chinensis , which sit very close to each other in a single large clade whereas D . hospes and D . dendriticum are separated into their own clade. In conclusion each sample was identified as D . dendriticum based on the proportion of MiSeq reads and validated the presence of this group of parasites in the Gilgit Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces of Pakistan. The metabarcoding deep amplicon sequencing technology and bioinformatics pathway have several potential applications, including species interactions during co-infections, identifying the host and geographical distribution of Dicrocoelium in livestock, drug therapy response evaluation and understanding of the emergence and spread of drug resistance.

Gastrointestinal parasites pose a serious threat to sustainable small ruminant farming worldwide including Indian subcontinent and the control primarily relies on administration of anthelmintic drugs. A continuous surveillance regarding their distribution and efficacy of commonly used anthelmintics is essential for their effective control in a region. In the present study, faecal samples ( n  = 1962) were collected from goats of 17 districts of Punjab state, India and examined by qualitative and quantitative examination methodologies. An overall prevalence of 93.62% was recorded for gastrointestinal parasitism with strongyles being the most prevalent (88.99%), followed by coccidia (65.34%), Moniezia spp. (16.62%), Trichuris spp. (9.38%), Strongyloides spp. (7.65%) and trematodes ( Fasciola spp. and amphistomes) being least prevalent (0.02%). The quantitative analysis revealed 48.05, 14.43 and 37.51% goats with low, moderate and heavy gastrointestinal nematode infection (GIN), respectively, while faecal culture examination revealed six genera of GINs as Haemonchus (75.94%) being the predominant, followed by Trichostrongylus (16.44%), Oesophagostomum (4.85%), Bunostomum (1.65%), Ostertagia (0.77%) and Cooperia (0.33%). The logistic regression analysis revealed that risk factors viz. agroclimatic zones, season, sex and deworming status were significantly associated with prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites. The status of efficacy against fenbendazole, levamisole and ivermectin were also analysed by in-vivo faecal egg count reduction test at 17 goat farms. The overall percent efficacy as mean ± SE (range) for fenbendazole, levamisole and ivermectin was estimated at 55.97 ± 4.78% (18.92–92.44%), 51.74 ± 4.77% (11.20-77.86%) and 62.63 ± 4.66% (32.41–98.63%), respectively. The results revealed resistance against fenbendazole, levamisole and ivermectin on 100%, 100% and 94.1% farms, respectively, whereas, in-vitro tests (egg hatch test and larval developmental assay) revealed resistance as 70.6%, 93.8% and 73.3%, respectively. The high prevalence of GINs in Punjab state can be correlated with the resistance recorded against all commonly used anthelmintics and warrants exploration of non-chemical mitigation strategies for effective control. The findings of the present study would be of immense help for the policy-framers/field veterinarians/extension worker etc. in formulation and implementation of effective control measures for worm management through judicious use of the anthelmintics.

Ticks are important vectors of pathogens affecting livestock productivity and public health, yet their bacterial communities remain poorly characterized in many parts of South Africa. This study investigated the bacterial diversity and potential pathogenic bacterial etiology associated with Amblyomma hebraeum ticks collected from sheep and goats in Mahikeng, North West province. A total of 168 adult ticks were sampled across four villages. Microbiome profiling was performed using high-throughput sequencing of the V3–V4 hypervariable regions of the 16 S rRNA gene on the Illumina MiSeq platform. High-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing revealed 16,193 ASVs in goat-derived ticks and 16,510 ASVs in those from sheep. Proteobacteria emerged as the dominant phylum across all samples, with ticks collected from goats showing a particularly high dominance of Rickettsia spp. (51.64% relative abundance), suggesting potential zoonotic risks. In contrast, ticks from sheep harboured significantly more diverse and evenly distributed bacterial communities, as indicated by Shannon ( p  = 0.0138) and Simpson ( p  = 0.0233) diversity indices, despite comparable species richness. A core microbiome comprising 1,374 ASVs (32.3%) was shared across all ticks, alongside 1,504 and 1,372 unique ASVs in goat- and sheep-derived ticks, respectively. Notably, several medically and veterinary-relevant genera, including Coxiella , Ehrlichia , Staphylococcus , Bacillus , Acinetobacter , Corynebacterium , and Streptococcus, were detected across both host groups. While total species richness was comparable between hosts, alpha diversity indices that account for evenness revealed host-based differences, and beta diversity patterns further showed clear separation of bacterial communities by host species. This study indicates that the host plays a crucial role as an ecological driver affecting the diversity of microbial communities associated with ticks. This study improves our understanding of the diversity, composition, and abundance of tick-associated microbiomes and pathogens in South African small ruminants. These insights support the development of microbiome-targeted strategies for detecting and controlling tick-borne diseases.

Ticks transmit a wide range of protozoan, bacterial, and viral pathogens to humans and animals globally. However, data on ticks infesting domestic ruminants and the pathogens they carry are scarce in Malawi. In this study, we examined ticks collected from domestic ruminants and screened them for selected veterinary and medically important protozoan and bacterial pathogens. A total of 964 ticks were collected from 202 cattle, 63 goats, and 16 sheep across eleven districts in Malawi. Ticks were morphologically identified to species level using taxonomical keys, with molecular confirmation by PCR amplification and sequencing of the 12S ribosomal RNA (12S rDNA) and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I ( COI ) genes. Tick DNA was further screened for tick-borne pathogens using species-specific PCR assays. Identified tick species included Rhipicephalus microplus (30.5%), Rhipicephalus appendiculatus (23.3%), Rhipicephalus decoloratus (13.2%), Rhipicephalus evertsi (9.8%), Hyalomma rufipes (7.5%), Amblyomma variegatum (6.3%), Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (tropical lineage) (3.6%), Hyalomma truncatum (2.8%), Rhipicephalus simus (2.0%), Rhipicephalus pravus (0.6%), and Rhipicephalus annulatus (0.4%). Overall, 37.0% of ticks carried at least one tick-borne pathogen, with Theileria parva being the most prevalent (34.7%), followed by Anaplasma marginale (17.4%), Babesia bigemina (14.9%), Anaplasma ovis (11.2%), Ehrlichia ruminantium (9.2%) , Theileria mutans (8.4%), Babesia bovis (2.2%), and Anaplasma bovis (2.0%). This study provides the first molecular identification of ticks infesting domestic ruminants in Malawi and documents associated tick-borne pathogens. Notably, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus was identified for the first time in southern Malawi, refining current understanding of East Coast fever epidemiology and highlighting the need for updated surveillance approaches. Les tiques transmettent un large éventail d'agents pathogènes protozoaires, bactériens et viraux aux humains et aux animaux à l'échelle mondiale. Cependant, les données sur les tiques infestant les ruminants domestiques et les agents pathogènes qu'elles transportent sont rares au Malawi. Cette étude a examiné des tiques prélevées sur des ruminants domestiques et a recherché certains agents pathogènes protozoaires et bactériens d'importance vétérinaire et médicale. Au total, 964 tiques ont été collectées sur 202 bovins, 63 chèvres et 16 moutons dans onze districts du Malawi. Les tiques ont été identifiées morphologiquement jusqu'à l'espèce à l'aide de clés taxonomiques, avec confirmation moléculaire par amplification PCR et séquençage des gènes de l'ARN ribosomique 12S (ADNr 12S) et de la sous-unité I de la cytochrome c oxydase ( COI ). L’ADN des tiques a ensuite été analysé à la recherche d’agents pathogènes transmis par les tiques à l’aide de tests PCR spécifiques à l’espèce. Les espèces de tiques identifiées comprenaient Rhipicephalus microplus (30,5 %), Rhipicephalus appendiculatus (23,3 %), Rhipicephalus decoloratus (13,2 %), Rhipicephalus evertsi (9,8 %), Hyalomma rufipes (7,5 %), Amblyomma variegatum (6,3 %), Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (lignée tropicale) (3,6 %), Hyalomma truncatum (2,8 %), Rhipicephalus simus (2,0 %), Rhipicephalus pravus (0,6 %) et Rhipicephalus annulatus (0,4 %). Au total, 37 % des tiques étaient porteuses d'au moins un agent pathogène transmis par les tiques, Theileria parva étant le plus fréquent (34,7 %), suivi d' Anaplasma marginale (17,4 %), Babesia bigemina (14,9 %), Anaplasma ovis (11,2 %), Ehrlichia ruminantium (9,2 %), Theileria mutans (8,4 %), Babesia bovis (2,2 %) et Anaplasma bovis (2 %). Cette étude fournit la première identification moléculaire des tiques infestant les ruminants domestiques au Malawi et documente les agents pathogènes transmis par les tiques associés. Notamment, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus a été identifié pour la première fois dans le sud du Malawi, ce qui affine les connaissances actuelles sur l'épidémiologie de la fièvre de la côte Est et souligne la nécessité de mettre à jour les méthodes de surveillance.

Background Cryptosporidium spp. are protozoan pathogens that infect the gastrointestinal tracts of humans and animals, posing significant zoonotic risks. Goats are recognized as important hosts; however, their role in the epidemiology and transmission of Cryptosporidium remains inadequately characterized in certain regions of China. Methods To investigate the occurrence and species composition of Cryptosporidium in goats ( Capra hircus ), fecal samples ( n  = 386) were collected from multiple farms in Zhejiang Province, China. Genomic DNA was extracted and screened for Cryptosporidium using PCR amplification of the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene, followed by Sanger sequencing for species identification. Positive samples of C. parvum , C. xiaoi , and C. ubiquitum were further subtyped via nested PCR targeting the 60-kilodalton glycoprotein (gp60 ) gene. Results Overall, 31 (8.0%) of the 386 samples were positive for Cryptosporidium spp. Four species were identified: C. xiaoi ( n  = 14), C. ubiquitum ( n  = 12), C. parvum ( n  = 3), and C. occultus ( n  = 2). Subtyping revealed C. xiaoi XXIIIa, C. ubiquitum XIIa, and C. parvum IIdA19G1. Both C. parvum and C. ubiquitum are zoonotic species that have been previously reported in humans and rodents, indicating potential cross-species transmission within the region. Conclusions This study reveals the presence of multiple Cryptosporidium species, including zoonotic C. parvum and C. ubiquitum , in goats from Zhejiang Province. These findings indicate that goats may serve as potential reservoirs for environmental contamination and zoonotic transmission. It is recommended to implement proper management practices and hygienic disposal of goat manure to mitigate the risk of cryptosporidiosis outbreaks.