Journal of Parasitic Diseases

The present study was undertaken on epidemiology and diagnosis of babesiosis in sheep and goats in Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts of Karnataka state from November 2017 to May 2018. Out of 343 (225 sheep and 118 goats) blood smears examined by Giemsa and acridine orange (AO) fluorescent dye staining methods, 3.55 and 4.0 per cent of sheep and 0.84 and 1.69 per cent of goat samples were found positive for Babesia organisms, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity was found to be higher in AO fluorescent dye staining method. In agewise susceptibility, the percent positivity was found to be higher in animals > 6 months old. In genderwise susceptibility, the percent positivity was found to be higher in females than males. Hence, AO fluorescent dye staining method is found to be very rapid and cost effective diagnostic method for treatment and control of babesiosis.

The aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro and in vivo anticestodal effects of methanol extract of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. (Malvaceae) leaf against Hymenolepis diminuta (Rudolphi, 1819), a zoonotic tapeworm. Under the in vitro study, H. diminuta worms were exposed to 10, 20 and 40 mg/ml concentrations of methanol leaf extract and the effects were judged on the basis of physical motility/mortality of worms. On the other hand, in the case of in vivo study, H. diminuta infected rats were treated individually with 200, 400 and 800 mg/kg doses of leaf extract for 5 days. The effects were judged on the basis of reduction in eggs per gram (EPG) of faeces and worm counts. In case of in vitro test, the treatment with 40 mg/ml concentration of extract revealed prominent anticestodal effect and caused paralysis of worms in 3.00 ± 0.53 h and mortality in 4.08 ± 0.21 h. However, under in vivo study, the 800 mg/kg dose of extract revealed the highest anticestodal effect and caused 66.55 % reduction in EPG count and 75.00 % reduction in worm count in the treated animals. The results of this study indicated that H. rosa-sinesis leaf extract possesses concentration-dependent anticestodal effect against H. diminuta, indicating that the plant possesses promising active principle for the control of intestinal helminthic infections.

A total of 1,304 faecal samples of different species of equids were examined for presence of helminthic eggs from five different centres in Mumbai and Pune regions of Maharashtra state from October 2011 to June 2012. Overall prevalence of helminthic infestation was found to be 20.63 % with higher rate of occurrence in monsoon (31.29 %) followed by winter (20.40 %) and summer (14.23 %). Four species of nematodes viz. strongyles (10.81 %), Strongyloides westeri (13.19 %), Parascaris equorum (0.23 %) and Dictyocaulus arnfieldi (0.23 %); two species of trematodes viz. amphistomes (1.38 %) and Schistosoma indicum (0.31 %) and only one species of cestode viz. Anoplocephala spp. (0.07 %) were encountered in the study. Coproculture studies revealed that Strongylus vulgaris was predominant species (36.87 %) among strongyles followed by cyathostomes. Amongst equids, mules had the lowest prevalence of 14.80 % followed by ponies (20.61 %) horses (38.79) and donkeys (51.90 %).

The present paper reports a case of human vaginal myiasis in a 22 year old woman. This is the first report of this fly species to cause vaginal myiasis in human till now. The infested maggots were removed from the vagina and cultured in laboratory. Entomological studies on the emerged flies showed that the infested larvae were Oriental latrine fly Chrysomya megacephala Fabricius. Clinical presentation and treatment strategies are discussed also.

Faecal samples for detection of gastrointestinal parasites were collected from 60 donkeys from 6 villages in Marand, North-West of Iran. Faecal samples of 2 donkeys (3.33 %) were negative for parasite eggs. 48 positive donkeys (81.66 %) were infected with a single parasite type, 9 (15.51 %) and 1 (1.66 %) of donkeys had multiple infections with two and three parasites, respectively. The highest prevalence and intensity rate belonged to small strongyles. The overall prevalence of intestinal parasites eggs in the positive donkeys were: strongyles 100 %, Parascaris equorum (15.51 %), Habronema spp. 1.72 %. Larval identification showed that small strongyle larvae were most frequent (100 %) followed by Strongylus edentatus (5.17 %), S. equinus (35.71 %) and S. vulgaris (26.66 %). This study revealed that donkeys in Iran are infected with a range of helminths, which are representatives of the important pathogenic parasites found in equids worldwide.

Neospora caninum is an intracellular coccidian parasite infecting a broad range of hosts globally. Despite the existence of several epidemiological studies on neosporosis, there is a limited knowledge regarding the prevalence of N. caninum infection among dogs, cows, and humans in Egypt. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted an epidemiological investigation in the Assiut province of Egypt to determine the seropositivity of N. caninum infection among cows, dogs, and pregnant women, as well as the associated risk factors. By employing an indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, we found specific N. caninum IgG antibodies in 6% (6 of 100) and 2.33% (1 of 43) of cows and dogs’ sera, respectively. However, we are unable to detect antibodies in the 48 tested human sera. Moreover, no statistical significance was observed among the analyzed risk factors associated with seropositive cows and dogs. Our study highlights the presence of N. caninum in cows and dogs in the Assiut province, Egypt. Further, it underscores the need for improved comprehensive surveillance of N. caninum infection in a large population of cattle across various locations to obtain a better understanding of the economic burden associated with the disease.

Immunotherapy is a sort of therapy in which antibody or antigen administrates to the patient in order to treat or reduce the severity of complications of disease. This kind of treatment practiced in a wide variety of diseases including infectious diseases, autoimmune disorders, cancers and allergy. Successful and unsuccessful immunotherapeutic strategies have been practiced in variety of parasitic infections. On the other hand parasites or parasite antigens have also been considered for immunotherapy against other diseases such as cancer, asthma and multiple sclerosis. In this paper immunotherapy against common parasitic infections, and also immunotherapy of cancer, asthma and multiple sclerosis with parasites or parasite antigens have been reviewed.