Parasitic helminths, comprising of nematodes, trematodes, cestodes, and acanthocephalans, belong to the group of metazoans. Parasitic helminths infect billions of people worldwide, particularly in the tropical and subtropical regions. Moreover, domesticated animals and wildlife are also afflicted by parasitic helminths. Increasing anthropogenic activities and environmental changes in the recent years can have various consequences on host-parasite interaction. These consequences include directly influencing the capacity of parasites to adapt to a new environment and affecting dynamics among hosts, parasites, and their communities.
Identification of parasitic helminths is the backbone of all parasitological studies, as it is tied to accurate disease diagnosis. However, despite the importance of parasitic helminth identification, the number of taxonomists has declined. Recently, the interface between humans and animals is decreasing, potentially resulting in the emergence or re-emergence of helminthic diseases with zoonotic potential, and possibly leading to more severe disease outbreaks. Molecular advances like DNA taxonomy and DNA barcoding have become significantly advantageous to aid parasitic helminths identification. Advances in DNA metabarcoding methods are rapidly gaining speed for other metazoans. However, DNA metabarcoding of parasitic helminths is still in the infancy stage and development is required to detect parasites in various hosts and environmental matrices. A robust molecular marker is needed to detect the broad spectrum of parasitic helminths, where this particular molecular marker can also be applied on molecular diagnosis platforms. Molecular approaches can thus serve as the alternative approach to support traditional parasitological methods for parasitic helminth identification.
Topics of interest related to zoonotic parasitic helminths in domestic animals and wildlife include but are not limited to:
- Morphological identification and ultrastructural study
- Molecular identification
- DNA barcoding and metabarcoding
- Parasitological diagnosis
- Molecular diagnosis
We hope to assemble a series of contributions offering a comprehensive view of zoonotic parasitic helminth in terms of identification and diagnosis by submission of original research articles as well as review papers.
We kindly invite you to contribute to this Research Topic with your recent findings to improve the knowledge and fulfil the information of zoonotic helminth species diversity, distribution, and development of alternative approaches for molecular diagnosis or novel platforms. Perspective authors are reminded that the submitted manuscript must be in the journal's scope.
Parasitic helminths, comprising of nematodes, trematodes, cestodes, and acanthocephalans, belong to the group of metazoans. Parasitic helminths infect billions of people worldwide, particularly in the tropical and subtropical regions. Moreover, domesticated animals and wildlife are also afflicted by parasitic helminths. Increasing anthropogenic activities and environmental changes in the recent years can have various consequences on host-parasite interaction. These consequences include directly influencing the capacity of parasites to adapt to a new environment and affecting dynamics among hosts, parasites, and their communities.
Identification of parasitic helminths is the backbone of all parasitological studies, as it is tied to accurate disease diagnosis. However, despite the importance of parasitic helminth identification, the number of taxonomists has declined. Recently, the interface between humans and animals is decreasing, potentially resulting in the emergence or re-emergence of helminthic diseases with zoonotic potential, and possibly leading to more severe disease outbreaks. Molecular advances like DNA taxonomy and DNA barcoding have become significantly advantageous to aid parasitic helminths identification. Advances in DNA metabarcoding methods are rapidly gaining speed for other metazoans. However, DNA metabarcoding of parasitic helminths is still in the infancy stage and development is required to detect parasites in various hosts and environmental matrices. A robust molecular marker is needed to detect the broad spectrum of parasitic helminths, where this particular molecular marker can also be applied on molecular diagnosis platforms. Molecular approaches can thus serve as the alternative approach to support traditional parasitological methods for parasitic helminth identification.
Topics of interest related to zoonotic parasitic helminths in domestic animals and wildlife include but are not limited to:
- Morphological identification and ultrastructural study
- Molecular identification
- DNA barcoding and metabarcoding
- Parasitological diagnosis
- Molecular diagnosis
We hope to assemble a series of contributions offering a comprehensive view of zoonotic parasitic helminth in terms of identification and diagnosis by submission of original research articles as well as review papers.
We kindly invite you to contribute to this Research Topic with your recent findings to improve the knowledge and fulfil the information of zoonotic helminth species diversity, distribution, and development of alternative approaches for molecular diagnosis or novel platforms. Perspective authors are reminded that the submitted manuscript must be in the journal's scope.