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:  Meningeal worm ( Parelaphostrongylus tenuis) is an important cause of mortality of elk ( Cervus canadensis) in populations in the eastern US and has been implicated in the failure of several restoration attempts. From 2011 to 2013, the Missouri Department of Conservation translocated 108 adult and yearling elk from Kentucky (US) to southern Missouri (US) to establish a free-ranging population. From release in spring 2011 through August 2015, we monitored 167 elk (adult, yearling, and calf) to determine causes of mortality. Of 78 mortalities, 26 (33%) were linked to meningeal worm based on necropsy results and/or observed behavior; this group included 19 elk with confirmed or suspected cases of meningeal worm infection that died of other proximate causes. Other important mortality sources included euthanasia ( n=11, 14%), emaciation ( n=7, 9%), and predation ( n=5, 6%). Eleven of the 26 (42%) meningeal worm-related mortalities were adults, and 22 (85%) were female. Meningeal worm was an important cause of mortality during the restoration of Missouri elk, potentially contributing to the loss of 16% of the monitored individuals. Greater mortality in adult female elk could reduce initial population growth by limiting reproductive output in the restored herd, especially given that females were disproportionately affected in Missouri. Because translocated Missouri elk undoubtedly were exposed to meningeal worm in Kentucky, our results could be explained by exposure to a different genetic strain of meningeal worm once in Missouri, loss of immune response due to translocation, increased dose of larval worms, or some unquantified factor.

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Enterobius vermicularis infection is considered as one of the important causes of anaemia and malnutrition among children. This topic has recently received an increased amount of attention.  The objective of this study is to evaluate the demographical, anthropometrical, nutritional, and  haematological status of E. vermicularis infection among children. This study was conducted in Al Diwaniyah province, south of Iraq, for the period of October 2020 to the end of January 2021. The study included 122 children from both genders (males, n= 61, and females, n=61) and their ages ranged between 1 and 14 years. Nutritional status, body mass index (BMI), BMI percentile, and weight- for- age Z score were evaluated for some participants. In addition, samples of cellophane tape and blood were collected from all participants. The cellophane tape samples were examined microscopically for E. vermicularis detection, whereas blood samples were processed to evaluate several parameters, which were hemoglobin, serum iron, and total iron binding capacity (TIBC), ferritin, and vitamin B12. The results revealed a high infection rate (73.77%) among the studied population. The results also showed a significant correlation between gender and the occurrence of E. vermicularis infection. Males showed a higher risk of enterobiasis than females. While no association was noticed between each of age, nutritional status, and enterobiasis. Also, a significant correlation was recorded between E. vermicularis positive status and anaemia. The results showed that each of BMI, weight- for- age Z score, haemoglobin, serum iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC), and ferritin had significantly lower values among those who were positive for E. vermicularis. Finally, the level of vitamin B12 was insignificantly decreased in children with enteroniasis. These findings indicate that more hematological changes are expected to occur in children with enterobiasis. Therefore, further consideration and investigation would be required on this topic in Iraq.

Different factors were examined related with the prevalence of Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba histolytica infections in population live north of Baghdad which were (seasonal tendency, travelling history and source of drinking water) during the period April 2009 till the end of March 2010. The study revealed that the total rate of parasitic protozoan infection (G.lamblia and E. histolytica) was (15.33%) , the infectiion rate of G.lamblia was higher than the infection rate of E.histolytica as their rates were (11.66%) and (3.66%) respectively.There was high significant relation (p≤0.05) between infection rate of these parasites and both of drinking water and travelling status of the patient , high infection rate of (G.lamblia and E.histolytica) was observed in patients who drunk tab water and patients with travelling history,while the minimum infection rate was seen in patients who drunk the other types of drinking water (boiled, filtered and bottled) and patients with no travelling history.Finally the peak of Giardia and E.histolytica positive rates were seen in June 2009 (20%) and July 2009 (9.67%) respectively, while the minimum positive rate was seen in January 2010(1.85%) and November 2009 (1.61%) respectively. Statistical analysis using Person Correlation (r) illustrated that there was positively significant association (p≤0.05) between temperature and each of Giardia lamblia and E.histolytica infection, while there was significant negative association between number of rainfall per month and each of Giardia and E.histolytica infections.

The relation between Entamoeba histolytica and anemia has lately had much attention. The aim of this study was to determine the possible correlation between anemia and parasitic intestinal infection with E.histolytica in children from Baghdad-Iraq. This study was conducted from October 2018 to April 2019 in different hospitals, primary health care centers, and primary schools. Eighty-one children participated in this study and their ages were between 1 and 12 years. The participants were divided into two groups based on their general microscopic stool examination. The first group was diagnosed as E.histolytica infected group (n=47), while no pathogens were detected in the stool samples of the second group which was considered as a healthy control (n=34). Blood samples were taken from all subjects and tested for haemoglobin level, serum ferritin, serum iron, total binding iron capacity (TBIC) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV). Nutritional status was also evaluated for all children aged ≥5 years old. Results showed that the prevalence of anemia was higher in children infected with E.histolytica compared with the control subjects. Anemia was largely reported among children aged 1-3 years for both E.histolytica infected children and control subjects. The results also illustrated that both haemoglobin and iron levels were significantly (pË‚0.05) lower in E.histolytica infected children compared with control subjects, while non-significant differences (p˃0.05) were observed in the level of ferritin between E.histolytica infected children and control subjects, although the ferritin was lower in E.hisolytica infected group. The results showed that both gender and age are significantly related to low serum iron levels in both infected and control groups.  Significant relationshipswere also noticed between each of the anemia types and the nutritional status with the E.histolytca infection. Microcytic anemia as well as high records of severe malnutrition were observed in the majority of E. histolytica infected children These findings indicate that anemia is more expected to be present in children infected with E.histolytica. Therefore, efforts should be focused on health education of populations at high risk of both anemia and E.histolytica.

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