Intestinal helminths of fish are of increasing interest as potential bioindicators for heavy metal contamination in aquatic habitats. Among these parasites cestodes and acanthocephalans in particular have an enormous heavy metal accumulation capacity exceeding that of established free living sentinels. Metal concentrations several thousand times higher in acanthocephalans than in host tissues were described from field and laboratory studies. Whereas larval stages inside their intermediate hosts are not able to take up high quantities of metals, young worms begin to take up metals immediately after infection of the final host. After four to five weeks of exposure, the parasites reach a steady-state concentration orders of magnitude higher than the ambient water level. Thus, acanthocephalans are not only very effective in taking up metals, but they can also respond very rapidly to changes in environmental exposure. The mechanism which enable acanthocephalans to take up metals from the intestinal lumen of the host appears to be based on the presence of bile acids, which form organo-metallic complexes that are easily absorbed by the worms due to their lipophilicity. Investigations of the environmental conditions affecting metal uptake have shown that the parasites are more consistent and reliable indicators for metal pollution than the host tissues as metal levels of the latter are much more dependent on the water chemistry. Thus, after some years of research on the uptake of metals by acanthocephalans and on the factors affecting metal accumulation in intestinal parasites it should be asked if acanthocephalans meet the criteria commonly accepted for sentinels. If parasites can be considered as promising sentinels, we need reasons for the establishment of ‘new’ indicators. Therefore, this review summarises the present knowledge about parasites as bioindicators and compares the accumulation properties of parasites and established free living indicators. Finally, this review presents possible answers to the question why it could be advantageous to have new and even more sensitive indicators for environmental monitoring purposes.

Cryptosporidium are parasitic protozoans that cause gastrointestinal disease and represent a significant risk to public health. Cryptosporidium oocysts are prevalent in surface waters as a result of human, livestock and native animal faecal contamination. The resistance of oocysts to the concentrations of chlorine and monochloramine used to disinfect potable water increases the risk of waterborne transmission via drinking water. In addition to being resistant to commonly used disinfectants, it is thought that oocysts can persist in the environment and be readily mobilized by precipitation events. This paper will review the critical processes involved in the inactivation or removal of oocysts in the terrestrial and aquatic environments and consider how these processes will respond in the context of climate change.

Infections are described of Gasterosteus aculeatus in a pond at Leeds with the plerocercoid larvae of Schistocephalus solidus.

Very heavy infections were found in the summer of 1962 and early 1963; many fish harboured over 50 worms and the maximum was 130.

For each individual host the relative percentage parasite-weight to host-weight has been determined (parasitization index). In more than 50% of the fish the P.I. exceeded 25; the maximum value was 68·5. The relationship between P.I., numbers of worms and weight of worms is described.

Some effects of parasitization on the host are described; they include gross distension of the body, reduction of liver weight, reduction of packed cell volume of erythrocytes and delay in oocyte maturation. In some heavily parasitized individuals spawning is apparently inhibited.

Concurrent infections with the microsporidian Glugea anomala are described.

Our thanks are due to Mr A. Rennie, B.Sc., of the Yorkshire Ouse and Hull River Authority for drawing our attention to the source of infected sticklebacks, to Mr A. O. Holliday for the preparation of photographs and to Mr G. R. Standley for assistance in the preparation of the slide shown in PI. 1, fig. 3. We also wish to thank Dr J. N. Ball, Department of Zoology, University of Sheffield, for his helpful comments on the gonads of infected fish, and Professor J. M. Dodd, Department of Zoology, University of Leeds, for providing facilities and much helpful discussion. One of us (C. A.) gratefully acknowledges the receipt of a Science Research Council Research Studentship and Fellowship.

Treatment with praziquantel (PZQ) has become virtually the sole basis of schistosomiasis control in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere, and the drug is reviewed here in the context of the increasing rate that it is being used for this purpose. Attention is drawn to our relative lack of knowledge about the mechanisms of action of PZQ at the molecular level, the need for more work to be done on schistosome isolates that have been collected recently from endemic areas rather than those maintained in laboratory conditions for long periods, and our reliance for experimental work mainly on Schistosoma mansoni, little work having been done on S. haematobium. There is no evidence that resistance to PZQ has been induced in African schistosomes as a result of its large-scale use on that continent to date, but there is also no assurance that PZQ and/or schistosomes are in any way unique and that resistant organisms will not be selected as a result of widespread drug usage. The failure of PZQ to produce complete cures in populations given a routine treatment should therefore solicit considerable concern. With few alternatives to PZQ currently available and/or on the horizon, methods to monitor drug-susceptibility in African schistosomes need to be devised and used to help ensure that this drug remains effective for as long a time as possible.

Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a metastrongyloid nematode found widely in the Asia-Pacific region, and the aetiological agent of angiostrongyliasis; a disease characterized by eosinophilic meningitis. Rattus rats are definitive hosts of A. cantonensis, while intermediate hosts include terrestrial and aquatic molluscs. Humans are dead-end hosts that usually become infected upon ingestion of infected molluscs. A presumptive diagnosis is often made based on clinical features, a history of mollusc consumption, eosinophilic pleocytosis in cerebral spinal fluid, and advanced imaging such as computed tomography. Serological tests are available for angiostrongyliasis, though many tests are still under development. While there is no treatment consensus, therapy often includes a combination of anthelmintics and corticosteroids. Angiostrongyliasis is relatively rare, but is often associated with morbidity and sometimes mortality. Recent reports suggest the parasites’ range is increasing, leading to fatalities in regions previously considered Angiostrongylus-free, and sometimes, delayed diagnosis in newly invaded regions. Increased awareness of angiostrongyliasis would facilitate rapid diagnosis and improved clinical outcomes. This paper summarizes knowledge on the parasites’ life cycle, clinical aspects and epidemiology. The molecular biology of Angiostrongylus spp. is also discussed. Attention is paid to the significance of angiostrongyliasis in Australia, given the recent severe cases reported from the Sydney region.

During the investigations that have been carried out at this Laboratory into the factors concerning the development of the strongyloid diseases of grazing animals the requirement has been felt for some method whereby the infective larvae of the parasitic worms could be recovered from the pasture herbage and an estimate made of the relative extent of infection, or possibly, of the actual number of larvae available to the grazing animal.

We studied flea assemblages on rodents in different habitats of the Ramon erosion cirque in the Negev Desert to examine whether host–habitat relations influence flea spatial distribution. Eleven flea species parasitizing 12 rodent species were recorded. There was significant positive relationship between flea species richness and body mass of the host species; no relationships were found between relative richness of flea assemblage and either the number of habitats occupied by the host species or the size of host geographical range. The differences in pattern of flea parasitism among habitat types within host species were determined by both environmental features of a habitat and the specific pattern of habitat use by rodents. There was replacement of Xenopsylla conformis by Xenopsylla ramesis on Meriones crassus and Gerbillus dasyurus among different habitats. The results of ordination of the flea collections from each individual host demonstrated that the flea assemblages were segregated mainly along 4 axes, which explained 86% of total variance. Each of the ordination axes corresponded with a change in flea species composition. The directions of these changes were (1) among-hosts within a habitat and (2) among-habitats within a host.

A new method is described which has made possible the long-term axenic cultivation of Leishmania mexicana amastigotelike forms in Schneider's Drosophila medium supplemented with 2% (v/v) foetal calf serum. Unlike previous methods, it utilizes direct culture of parasites obtained from the lesions of infected animals rather than adaptation of promastigotes in vitro. Ultrastructural (possession of megasomes), biochemical (cysteine proteinase activity and gelatin SDS-PAGE banding pattern) and infectivity (in vivo) data are presented which show the close similarity of the cultured forms to lesion amastigotes. The axenically cultured forms grew optimally at a temperature of 32–33 °C, providing further evidence for their amastigote nature. It was found that adjustment of the pH of the growth medium to 5·4 was required in order to retain the amastigote morphology of the cultured parasites. This supports the notion that leishmanial amastigotes are acidophiles.

Novel hydroxynaphthoquinones are reported with outstanding efficacy against Plasmodium, Eimeria and Theileria species. Biochemical evidence is presented for the selective toxicity of these compounds being due to inhibition of parasite respiratory systems.

Immunodiagnostic tests for Taenia-specific faecal antigen based on polyclonal rabbit antisera against Taenia saginata or Taenia solium proglottid extracts in capture-type ELISA assays have been developed. Taenia-specific antigen was detected in detergent-solubilized faecal extracts from T. solium- and T. saginata-infected hosts. Coproantigen from T. solium-infected hamsters did not cross-react with faeces from rodents infected with Hymenolepis diminuta, H. citelli, H. micro-stoma, Necator americanus, Strongyloides ratti or Nematospiroides dubius and faeces from uninfected animals. When the T. saginata-capture ELISA was tested with faecal samples positive for T. solium antigen, no cross-reactions were obtained. However, faecal samples from humans infected with T. solium or T. saginata, including some with extremely low egg counts, were cross-reactive by either test. Nevertheless, considerably higher O.D. values were obtained with stool samples from Taenia patients compared to Hymenolepis nana-infected or uninfected individuals. Two individuals, infected with Taenia sp. and positive for coproantigens by ELISA, became antigen-negative 6 days after treatment with Niclosamide. The possibility of developing species-specific immunodiagnostic tests for human taeniasis through coproantigen detection is discussed.

Parasitic infections are widespread throughout the tropics and sub-tropics, and infection with multiple parasite species is the norm rather than the exception. Despite the ubiquity of polyparasitism, its public health significance has been inadequately studied. Here we review available studies investigating the nutritional and pathological consequences of multiple infections with Plasmodium and helminth infection and, in doing so, encourage a reassessment of the disease burden caused by polyparasitism. The available evidence is conspicuously sparse but is suggestive that multiple human parasite species may have an additive and/or multiplicative impact on nutrition and organ pathology. Existing studies suffer from a number of methodological limitations and adequately designed studies are clearly necessary. Current methods of estimating the potential global morbidity due to parasitic diseases underestimate the health impact of polyparasitism, and possible reasons for this are presented. As international strategies to control multiple parasite species are rolled-out, there is a number of options to investigate the complexity of polyparasitism, and it is hoped that that the parasitological resarch community will grasp the opportunity to understand better the health of polyparasitism in humans.

Three ELISA assays, based on hyperimmune rabbit serum raised against adult cestode somatic antigen, were applied in this study for the detection of Taenia- and Echinococcus-specific antigens in host faeces. The first assay, using an antiserum against Taenia pisiformis antigen extract, was used in a time-course of T. pisiformis experimental infection in dogs. The assay was shown to be considerably more sensitive than microscopical detection of eggs in faeces. Antigen was present in faeces before patency and antigen levels were independent of T. pisiformis egg output. The second assay, involving a test for human taeniasis based on antibodies against T. solium, was applied in two field studies carried out in China and Guatemala. The test was highly specific, no false positive reactions occurred with human faecal samples and the test was capable of diagnosing individuals who would not have been detected by coproscopy or treatment to recover the tapeworm. A third assay was designed for E. granulosus and demonstrated 87·5% sensitivity and 96·5% specificity with samples from naturally and experimentally infected dogs with Echinococcus or Taenia infections. In both the human Taenia and canine Echinococcus studies antigen could be detected in faecal samples from infected hosts stored in 5% formalin for 6 months. Further refinements to these tests for field application are discussed.

Free-living Soay sheep (Ovis aries) on the island of Hirta, St Kilda, Scotland, are naturally parasitized by gastrointestinal nematodes, predominantly Teladorsagia circumcincta. In this paper we show that reduced faecal egg counts (FEC) are associated with an allele at a microsatellite locus located in the first intron of the interferon gamma gene (o(IFN)-γ) in Soay sheep lambs and yearlings, measured at approximately 4 and 16 months of age, respectively. The same allele was also associated with increased T. circumcincta-specific antibody (IgA) in lambs, but not associated significantly in yearlings. Flanking control markers failed to show a significant association with either FEC or IgA. These results suggest that a polymorphic gene conferring increased resistance to gastrointestinal nematode parasites is located at or near the interferon gamma gene, and support previous reports which have mapped a quantitative trait locus (QTL) for resistance to this region in domestic sheep. Our data are consistent with the idea that a functional polymorphism leading to reduced expression or efficacy of (IFN)-γ could enhance the immune response to gastrointestinal nematodes by favouring the activity of the Th2 cell subset and antibody associated immune mechanisms.

Numerous studies have shown that anthelminthic treatment can be effective in improving growth rates when given to malnourished children with ascariasis. Recent investigations have also indicated that Ascaris infections can affect mental processing in some school children. Poor socio-economic conditions are among the key factors linked with higher prevalences of ascariasis, as are defaecation practices, geophagia, cultural differences relating to personal and food hygiene, occupational necessity, agricultural factors, housing style, social class and gender. Chemotherapy is currently the major tool used for the strategic control of ascariasis as a short-term goal. In the long term, improvements in hygiene and sanitation are thought to aid long-term control considerably. Targeted treatment, especially when aimed at schoolchildren, has been a major focus of recent control efforts in some areas. Universal treatment reaches more people and thus decreases further aggregate morbidity, especially in nutritionally vulnerable preschool-age children. Selective treatment requires technical effort to identify heavily infected individuals; acceptance by the community may vary in less educated populations when some individuals receive treatment and others do not. Child-targeted treatment may be more cost-effective than population treatment in reducing the number of disease cases and, in high transmission areas, expanding coverage of a population can be a more cost-effective strategy than increasing the frequency of treatment.

The genetic structure of a population of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum has been examined in a village in Tanzania. Seventeen alleles of the merozoite surface protein MSP-1 and 23 of MSP-2 were detected by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) among the blood parasites of the inhabitants. Most infections contained mixtures of genetically distinct parasite clones. PCR was then used to examine individual P. falciparum oocysts, the products of fertilization events, in wild-caught mosquitoes. Forty-five out of 71 oocysts were heterozygous for one or both genes, showing that crossing between clones was taking place frequently, following uptake of mixtures of gametocytes by the mosquitoes. The frequency of heterozygous forms showed that random mating events probably occurred within mosquito bloodmeals between gametes belonging to different parasite clones.

This study deals with the ecology of Lyme borreliosis in Europe. The relationships between Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato spirochetes, Clethrionomys and Apodemus rodent reservoirs and the Ixodes ricinus tick vector were investigated during 16 consecutive months in an enzootic area in Switzerland. Cultivation of ear skin biopsies was used to isolate spirochetes from C. glareolus, A. sylvaticus, A. flavicollis and Glis glis. Borrelia infection was more frequently observed in Clethrionomys than in Apodemus. Tick xenodiagnosis was used to determine the infectivity of rodents. The infection rate in ticks fed on Clethrionomys was higher than that in ticks fed on Apodemus, but Apodemus yielded more infected ticks than Clethrionomys because of a better tick moulting success. Xenodiagnostic ticks were placed into BSK medium to obtain isolates. Isolates from rodents and rodent-feeding ticks were all identified as B. afzelii. The follow-up of the infectivity status of repeatedly recaptured rodents clearly demonstrated that these hosts remained infective for ticks during winter till the following spring. Comparing C. glareolus and A. sylvaticus, each rodent species showed different host infection, different host infectivity and contributed differently to the moulting success of feeding ticks. These factors influence differentially the pattern of transmission of B. afzelii from Clethrionomys voles and Apodemus mice to I. ricinus ticks.

Schistosoma japonicum, Fasciola hepatica and F. gigantica are digenetic trematodes and, therefore, possess similar life cycles. While schistosomiasis japonica has for a long time been recognised as a major disease of both humans and animals, infection with fasciolids has only been considered of relevance to animals. However, a number of recent reports indicate that fasciolosis is becoming a serious public health problem, especially in South America, Egypt and Iran (sporadic cases are also on the increase throughout Europe). Vaccines targeted at animals could play an important role in controlling these three diseases in animals and, by blocking transmission of infection, have a concurrent beneficial effect on disease in humans. Approaches towards identifying and producing vaccines against these parasites are similar and are discussed in this reveiw.

Examples of the apparently stochastic nature of freshwater fish helminth communities illustrating the erratic and unpredictable occurrence and distribution of many species are provided for six species of fish from several localities throughout Britain. By focussing on parasite colonization strategies two categories of helminths are recognized: autogenic species which mature in fish and allogenic species which mature in vertebrates other than fish and have a greater colonization potential and ability. Three groups of fish are distinguished: salmonids, in which helminth communities are generally dominated by autogenic species which are also responsible for most of the similarity within and between localities; cyprinids, in which they are dominated by allogenic species which are also responsible for most of the similarity within and between localities; and anguillids, whose helminth communities exhibit intermediate features with neither category consistently dominating nor providing a clear pattern of similarity. Recognition and appreciation of the different colonization strategies of autogenic and allogenic helminths in respect of host vagility and ability to cross land or sea barriers and break down habitat isolation, and their period of residence in a locality, whether transient or permanent, provides an understanding of, and explanation for, the observed patchy spatial distribution of many helminths. Comparison with other parts of the world indicates that colonization is a major determinant of helminth community structure.

Varroa mites (Varroa destructor) are serious ectoparasites of honey bees (Apis mellifera). This research addresses the impact of varroa mites on survivorship, viral incidence, and physiological traits of newly-emerged worker bees. RT-PCR confirmed our previous finding that varroa parasitization was linked to high levels of deformed wing virus (DWV). In non-treatment bees, varroa parasitization combined with increased viral levels altered survivorship curves from long-survival to shorter-survival types. After challenge with live Escherichia coli, the survivorship of mite-parasitized bees was significantly lower than mite-free bees. Deformed-wing, mite-parasitized bees died on average within 1 day, even without E. coli challenge. This was correlated with the absence of an important enzyme activity in insect immunity, phenol oxidase, lacking even in those bees challenged with immuno-elicitors. The lack of inducible phenol oxidase activity indicated that the bee immune system is not fully competent upon adult emergence. Varroa parasitism also significantly reduced body weight of the parasitized bees, but body weight was not significantly correlated with the survivorship of mite-parasitized bees. Our research indicates that the combination of mite parasitization, the interaction of DWV and microbes, and a developmental immune incompetency attribute to decreased worker survivorship and have a negative impact on colony fitness.

The basic tenet of the immunological perspective of fuiarial disease is that differential immune responsiveness among individuals exposed to infection results in the different clinical manifestations that develop. The mechanisms involved in this differential responsiveness appear to reflect different T-cell cytokine response patterns. Asymptomatic patients with the clinically silent presentation of ‘asymptomatic microfilaraemia’, who have been previously described as being ‘immunosuppressed’ with respect to their generating pro-inflammatory (Th1-type) immune responses to parasite antigen, are now recognized to be fully responsive to parasite antigen but to produce cytokines and mediators that have primarily anti-inflammatory (Th2-like) effects. Studies with immunodeficient mice have indicated the existence of two alternative pathways to the development of lymphatic pathology: one dependent on the induction of inflammatory reactions by the host immune response, the other entirely independent of the immune system and reflecting the direct actions of the parasite or its products on the lymphatics. As histopathology of affected human lymphatics is consistent with this hypothesis, it may be that the lymphatic pathology seen normally in the amicrofilaraemic, highly immunoresponsive infected patients derives from inflammation induced by immune responses to parasite antigen, whereas the lymphatic pathology sometimes seen coexisting with the ‘immunosuppressed’ state of asymptomatic microfilaraemia actually reflects lymphatic damage that is not immunologically mediated. Though little information exists about the ‘natural history’ of lymphatic filariasis, there is no evidence for an inevitable progression from one clinical form to another. Instead, there appears to be a definite plasticity in the response that depends on prior (? pre-natal) and current exposure to the parasite as well as on the immunomodulatory effects it induces. This plasticity does not appear to be complete, however, as there is no evidence that a chronically infected host who has developed strong pro-inflammatory immune responses can subsequently become sufficiently ‘down-regulated’ to support an asymptomatic microfilaraemia type of infection. Another possible constraint to the plasticity of the clinical and immunological responses may be the genetic determination of certain unusual syndromes, such as tropical pulmonary eosinophilia or TPE, though this hypothesis remains to be proven.