Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic infection of humans and animals, caused by the opportunistic protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite belonging to the phylum Apicomplexa. Infection in pregnant women may lead to abortion, stillbirth or other serious consequences in newborns. Infection in immunocompromised patients can be fatal if not treated. On average, one third of people are chronically infected worldwide. Although very limited information from China has been published in the English journals, T. gondii infection is actually a significant human health problem in China. In the present article, we reviewed the clinical features, transmission, prevalence of T. gondii infection in humans in China, and summarized genetic characterizations of reported T. gondii isolates. Educating the public about the risks associated with unhealthy food and life style habits, tracking serological examinations to special populations, and measures to strengthen food and occupational safety are discussed.

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This study assessed the prevalence, species and subtypes of Cryptosporidium in goats from Guangdong Province, Hubei Province, Shandong Province, and Shanghai City of China. Six hundred and four fecal samples were collected from twelve goat farms, and the overall infection rate was 11.4% (69/604). Goats infected with Cryptosporidium were found in eleven farms across four provincial areas, and the infection rate ranged from 2.9% (1/35) to 25.0% (9/36). Three Cryptosporidium species were identified. Cryptosporidium xiaoi (45/69, 65.2%) was the dominant species, followed by C. parvum (14/69, 20.3%) and C. ubiquitum (10/69, 14.5%). The infection rate of Cryptosporidium spp. was varied with host age and goat kids were more susceptible to be infected than adult goats. Subtyping C. parvum and C. ubiquitum positive samples revealed C. parvum subtype IIdA19G1 and C. ubiquitum subtype XIIa were the most common subtypes. Other C. parvum subtypes were detected as well, such as IIaA14G2R1, IIaA15G1R1, IIaA15G2R1 and IIaA17G2R1. All of these subtypes have also been detected in humans, suggesting goats may be a potential source of zoonotic cryptosporidiosis. This was the first report of C. parvum subtypes IIaA14G2R1, IIaA15G1R1 and IIaA17G2R1 infecting in goats and the first molecular identification of C. parvum and its subtypes in Chinese goats.

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence, species and subtypes of Cryptosporidium infecting yaks in the Qinghai Province of Northwestern China. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. was detected by microscopy and nested-PCR. A total of 586 fecal samples were collected from yaks in 6 counties, of which 142 (24.2%) samples tested positive for Cryptosporidium. The small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene of fifty-five samples were amplified and sequenced successfully and demonstrated that Cryptosporidium bovis (31/55, 56.4%) was the most common species, followed by C. parvum (16/55, 29.1%) and C. ryanae (5/55, 9.0%). Mixed infections of C. parvum and C. bovis (n = 2), C. ryanae and C. bovis (n = 1) were also detected. All three species were found in yaks ranging in age from <1 year, 1–2 years, to >2 years. Cryptosporidium was most commonly detected in spring (28.4%), followed by summer (20.9%), then winter (17.5%). Cryptosporidium parvum positive samples were subtyped using the 60 kDa glycoprotein (gp60) gene. Subtypes IIaA15G2R1 (n = 8), IIaA16G2R1 (n = 2), IIaA14G1R1 (n = 1), IIaA14G2R1 (n = 1) and IIaA16G3R1 (n = 1) were detected. All of these subtypes are zoonotic, and may pose a potential threat to human health.

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Background: Malaria transmission varies from one country to another and there are also local differences in time and space. An important variable when explaining the variability in transmission is the breeding behaviour of the different vector species and the availability of breeding sites. The aim of this study was to determine the geographical variability of certain entomological parameters: human biting rate (HBR), sporozoitic index (SI) for Plasmodium falciparum and entomological inoculation rate (EIR).