Female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) is a chronically disabling gynaecological condition, impacting up to 56 million women and girls, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. In lieu of a gold standard laboratory test, it is possible to diagnose FGS visually. Visual diagnosis is performed through inspection of the cervix and surrounding tissue to identify signs of Schistosoma egg deposition, associated inflammation and granuloma formation. The change related to egg deposition can be very subtle and heterogeneous and is often seen in the context of other altered cervical morphology. Visual diagnostics for FGS are therefore currently highly subjective and lack specificity, with low consistency of grading between trained expert reviewers. Computer vision, driven by artificial intelligence, is an enticing prospect to overcome these issues due to the potential to accurately detect and classify the subtle changes and patterns that are indiscernible to human graders. Computer vision also offers the opportunity to support resource-constrained regions with few staff trained on visual diagnostics. However, several challenges stand in the way of progressing and successfully implementing computer vision tools for FGS. These challenges are particularly related to the variation in the appearance of the cervix (with or without disease) and FGS lesions, as well as the difficulty with accurately labelling cervical images. Exploring alternative annotation methods and model architectures is likely to improve the performance of FGS computer vision tools. This paper will explore the challenges of FGS computer vision and provide suggestions on how to overcome these barriers to enhance visual diagnostics for FGS.

The Mediterranean and the Middle East represent unique biogeographical regions that significantly shaped the evolutionary history and particular diversity of their associated organisms. However, knowledge on the copepods parasitizing freshwater fishes in these regions is limited. This study aims to investigate the diversity and phylogeny of parasitic copepods in freshwater fishes across the Mediterranean and the Middle Eastern regions. A total of 169 freshwater fish species from the Mediterranean and Middle East were examined for metazoan parasites, yielding over 1000 parasitic copepods. A thorough morphological evaluation combined with molecular analyses of partial fragments of rDNA (18S and 28S) and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) led to the identification of 7 species of Ergasilidae and 3 species of Lernaeidae. These findings include the descriptions of 2 new species: Ergasilus italicus n. sp. parasitizing South European nase, Protochondrostoma genei (Bonaparte, 1839), in Italy and Pseudolamproglena zahrziensis n. sp. found in yellow barbel, Carasobarbus luteus (Heckel, 1843), in Iraq. New host and geographical records, along with molecular data are provided for 8 previously described species – Ergasilus barbi Rahemo, 1982, Ergasilus briani Markevich, 1933, Ergasilus lizae Krøyer, 1863, Ergasilus rostralis Ho, Jayarajan & Radhakrishnan 1992, Neoergasilus japonicus (Harada, 1930), Paraergasilus longidigitus Yin, 1954, Lamproglena pulchella von Nordmann, 1832 and Lernaea cyprinacea Linnaeus, 1758.

Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory skin disease affecting approximately 5.4% of the world population. Among its pathogenic factors is infestation by Demodex spp. Standardized skin surface biopsy (SSSB) and direct microscopic examination (DME) are widely used methods to measure Demodex spp density (Dd); however, there is no agreement on the method of choice, nor the prevalence of infestation in rosacea patients. This study compared both techniques in rosacea patients. A prospective study was conducted with 61 patients diagnosed with rosacea by dermatologists from two dermatology centres. Dd was evaluated using SSSB and DME in each patient. Results, median sampling time and reported pain were analyzed using appropriate statistical methods. The median Dd was significantly higher with SSSB (11 mites/cm2) compared to DME (1 mites/cm2; P < 0.001). Infestation (>5 mites/cm2) was detected in 64% of patients with SSSB and in 28% with DME (P < 0.001). The median sampling time was longer for SSSB (60 s) than for DME (30 s; P < 0.001). Both methods were associated with mild pain, slightly lower with DME (P = 0.033). SSSB proved more effective than DME for detecting Demodex spp. in rosacea, identifying a greater total number of mites and a higher percentage of infestation. Up to 64% of rosacea patients showed infestation with Demodex spp. using the SSSB technique. The results reinforce the use of SSSB as the standard technique for diagnosing Demodex spp. infestation in rosacea patients.

Risk factors for Eimeria infections are well documented in farm and pet animals, but studies focusing on wildlife species are less common. This research aimed to investigate the impact of selected demographic and environmental factors on the prevalence of Eimeria in the European hare (Lepus europaeus). Additionally, we analysed whether Eimeria infection affected the behaviour of hares by examining the relationship between infection status and the likelihood of a hare being killed by a vehicle at a hotspot for road mortality. Between 11 February 2022 and 24 June 2024, we collected 22 hare carcasses that had been killed in traffic along an 83.9 km monitoring route in central Bohemia, Czech Republic, to evaluate Eimeria prevalence in relation to factors such as age, hare density, distance to the nearest water source and rainfall over the previous 3 months. Contrary to our expectations, we found a higher prevalence of Eimeria in adult hares compared to juveniles. We propose that this outcome may be due to the high mortality rates among leverets and juvenile hares, which removes susceptible individuals from the population early on. The effects of the other factors examined were not significant. In conclusion, our study revealed that Eimeria infection did not contribute to the clustering of hare–vehicle collisions. We emphasize the importance of studying risk factors in wildlife species across different ecological contexts. Our findings challenge the general assumption that age negatively influences Eimeria prevalence.

Tritrichomonas foetus causes bovine trichomonosis, a venereal disease that reduces productivity in naturally mated cattle. Its high prevalence in Northern Australian herds underscores the need for a locally made strain-specific vaccine. This study developed and tested a whole-cell killed T. foetus vaccine using the Queensland isolate TfOz5 (vaccine strain) and TfOz-N36 (Northern Territory isolate) as the challenge strain. The heat-inactivated vaccine, adjuvanted with Montanide ISA 61 VG, was administered subcutaneously in 2 doses (5 × 10⁷ cells/dose) at a 1-month interval to mature bulls (n = 6) (4–7 years old), while controls (n = 6) (4–8 years old) received adjuvant with PBS. Bulls were experimentally challenged intrapreputially with live cultures of T. foetus at 2- and 6-months post first vaccination. A therapeutic trial with T. foetus-positive, persistently infected mature bulls (n = 10) (4–7 years old) used the same vaccine regime without the subsequent T. foetus challenges. The vaccine was found to be safe, causing only mild local reactions. The vaccine challenge experiment demonstrated similar duration of T. foetus positivity, confirmed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), compared to controls (94 vs. 106 days, P = 0.73). In the therapeutic experiment, 2/10 treated bulls tested negative for T. foetus at the end of the trial, while the remaining eight remained positive. Vaccinated bulls in both experiments showed significantly elevated serum anti-T. foetus IgG antibody levels, confirming the vaccine’s immunogenicity. These findings demonstrate that the experimental vaccine is safe and capable of eliciting a specific immune response in mature bulls.

Hookworms are common parasites of Eurasian badgers (Meles meles), typically identified as Uncinaria criniformis. The taxonomic distinction from Uncinaria stenocephala, a species found in dogs and foxes, has long been debated. In this study, we molecularly characterized U. criniformis from a Eurasian badger in Romania using genome skimming. We assembled the complete mitochondrial genome and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA region from 2 adult hookworms morphologically consistent with U. criniformis. Phylogenetic analysis of 12 mitochondrial protein-coding genes demonstrated strongly supported clade of U. criniformis with Ancylostoma spp. ITS rDNA and cox1 sequence comparisons revealed only 92.4–92.8% and 88.0–88.5% identity, respectively, between U. criniformis and U. stenocephala, confirming their molecular distinctiveness. In contrast, our sequences showed >99% identity to sequences from Arthrostoma leucurus, a hookworm recently described from the Asian badger (Meles leucurus), suggesting conspecificity. These findings support the validity of U. criniformis as a distinct species parasitizing M. meles, and we propose A. leucurus as a junior synonym of U. criniformis. Our results highlight the polyphyly of the genus Uncinaria and point to the need for broader mitogenomic sampling of hookworms. The molecular markers generated here provide a reference for future parasitological surveys and wildlife disease studies.