The oocysts of the coccidia are robust structures, frequently isolated from the feces or urine of their hosts, which provide resistance to mechanical damage and allow the parasites to survive and remain infective for prolonged periods. The diagnosis of coccidiosis, species description and systematics, are all dependent upon characterization of the oocyst. Therefore, this review aimed to the provide a critical overview of the methodologies, advantages and limitations of the currently available morphological, morphometrical and molecular biology based approaches that may be utilized for characterization of these important structures. It has become apparent that no single methodology is sufficient to fully characterize these structures and the majority of researchers favor the use of combinational or polyphasic approaches.

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In the New World, the avian order Passeriformes comprises 47 families and 2,453 species, yet to date only 21 (45%) of the families and 58 (2%) of the species have been examined for coccidia, and from these only two species of Eimeria Schneider, 1875 and 81 species of Isospora Schneider, 1881 have been described. This review contributes to our understanding of the morphology and systematics of coccidian parasites of passeriforms, providing a scientific basis for the identification of sporulated oöcysts recovered from the faeces of passerine birds from North, Central and South America. To this end, the coccidia were organised and grouped according to the family of the host, following the widely recognised concept of family-specificity and the updated systematics of the class Aves. Details of 83 eimeriid species are presented along with an illustration and tabulated data.

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of parasites in soil and dog feces according to diagnostic tests. We studied soil from 25 public squares in Seropédica, Brazil. Five samples of soil were collected from each square. Eighty-one fresh fecal samples from dogs were analyzed. The technique described by Dunsmore et al. and an adaptation of the Rugai et al. method were used to recover parasites in soil, and the Willis, Hoffman and Centrifugal-Flotation techniques were used to detect parasites in feces. The chi(2) and Fischer's exact tests were used to analyze the statistical significance of the results. Seven squares were found to be contaminated, and the most prevalent parasites were Ancylostoma spp. (13.6%) and Toxocara spp. (4.0%). The Dunsmore et al. technique and the adaptation of the Rugai et al. method did not differ in the detection of Toxocara spp. (p=0.21), Trichuris spp. (p=0.25), Ascaris spp. (p=0.49) and Strongyloides spp. (p=0.49) in soil. However, the two methods differed in the detection of Ancylostoma spp. eggs (p=0.029) and larvae (p=0.001). According to granulometric analysis, the soil samples consisted mainly of sand (from 96.6% to 82.8%). Parasites were detected in 75 fecal samples, the most frequent being Ancylostoma spp. (80.1%), Toxocara spp. (11.1%) and Cryptosporidium spp. (7.4%). There was no difference between the Willis and Centrifugal-Flotation techniques in the detection of Ancylostoma spp., and both techniques were better than the Hoffman technique for detecting this parasite in feces. The Hoffman and Centrifugal-Flotation techniques were different (p=0.03) in Toxocara spp. detection. No difference was observed among these three for Cryptosporidium spp. detection. The prevalences of zoonotic parasites in both dog feces and soil have implications for the spread of human disease in these areas.

Immunofluorescence tests (IF) for toxoplasmosis were performed on a total of 608 schoolchildren in elementary and junior high grades. 166 being in the Bonsucesso district (an urban region of Rio de Janeiro) and 442 children from locations within the lowlands of Jacarepaguá (with rural characteristics). All the IF-IgM were nonreactive, whilst 416 schoolchildren (68.4%) were IF-IgG serum-reactive (greater than or equal to 1:16). The percentages of serum-reactives in Jacarepaguá were significantly higher than in Bonsucesso, both as regards the total number of schoolchildren (p less than 0.001), as also when subdivided according to the age-grades from six to eight years (p less than 0.001) or from twelve to fourteen (p less than 0.05). Both in Jacarepaguá and in Bonsucesso, the prevalence of reactions in the 12 to 14 year age-grade was significantly greater than in the 6 to 8 year age-grade (p less than 0.001 in both cases). Expressively larger prevalences of serum reactions were found in Jacarepaguá among schoolchildren who preferred eating raw or undercooked meat, as well as among those having cats as pets; this occurred equally in the 6 to 8 year and in the 12 to 14 year age-grades. In Bonsucesso, the only significant difference was in the 6 to 8 year age-grades that had cats as pets. Thus, it has been verified that the risk of infection is greater and more precocious in localities with rural characteristics than in urban regions.