This study examines the relationship between parasitic infections and agricultural innovations in China during the Song dynasty (960–1279 CE), particularly how the widespread use of night soil (human excrement) as fertilizer affected public health. The introduction of Champa rice and the expansion of double cropping systems substantially increased agricultural productivity and supported population growth but also intensified human–environment interactions that facilitated parasite transmission. The night soil was routinely transported from urban to rural areas to improve soil fertility and crop production, but its untreated application facilitated the local and regional spread of intestinal parasites. Analysis of Song dynasty historical records, including 太平圣惠方 (Peaceful Holy Benevolent Prescriptions), 证类本草 (Classified Herbal Medicine), 陈尃农书 (Chen Fu’s Agricultural Book), reveals a well-developed body of pharmacological knowledge regarding parasitic infections, suggesting that they were a significant health concern. Together with archaeoparasitological findings, this study identifies intestinal parasites – including Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, Clonorchis sinensis, Enterobius vermicularis and Taenia spp. – as likely to be prevalent during the Song dynasty. Moreover, variations in food consumption, agricultural practices and sanitation systems contributed to distinct regional patterns of parasitic infections. By integrating archaeological data with historical sources, this study demonstrates how agricultural intensification and urban development during the Song dynasty created environmental conditions conducive to pathogen survival, advancing our understanding of the health costs brought by agricultural expansion in ancient China.

Global warming is widely recognized as a key driver of current and future changes in marine ecosystems. Parasitic trematodes are highly sensitive to temperature changes, which can lead to drastic impacts on surrounding communities. Copiatestes spp. (Family Syncoelidae) are relatively little-known trematodes with atypical life cycles that have been associated with a mass mortality event of seabirds in the Chatham Islands. As they forage at sea, seabirds get their legs tangled with the sticky, free-living infective stages of Copiatestes, which impairs their ability to take off and land. We tested the impact of seasonally fluctuating sea temperature on the dynamics of Copiatestes thyrsitae at various life stages (infecting second-intermediate host, Nyctiphanes australis euphausiid, and the third free-living infective stage in the water column) by sampling plankton biweekly for 12 months in Otago Harbour, New Zealand. We reveal that higher temperatures are significantly correlated with increases in prevalence and abundance of Copiatestes infections in euphausiids, with a rapid response observed within days to weeks following temperature increases. No correlation was observed between temperature and abundance of free-living stages. Infected euphausiids were smaller in size compared to uninfected individuals. The higher infection levels in euphausiids following warmer temperatures suggest a heightened risk of entanglement for coastal seabirds at these times. Smaller-bodied, surface-feeding seabird species that consume euphausiids are particularly at risk of entanglement. Our findings suggest that even short-term heatwaves can lead to higher risk of seabirds being entangled with Copiatestes filaments, with potentially dire ecological consequences during mass parasite releases.

Paleoparasitology has emerged as a discipline situated at the intersection of anthropology, archaeology, public health and medical science. In South Korea, research on mummies over the past few decades has yielded critical insights into historical parasite infections. Parasitological analysis of intestinal contents from well-preserved Joseon-period mummies, largely representing individuals of the upper social classes, has enabled the direct identification of parasite taxa and estimation of infection prevalence in pre-modern Korea. Beyond mummies, parasitological examinations of toilet remains have enabled reconstructions of parasitic infection dynamics in pre-modern Korean society. No toilet structures have been identified from Neolithic sites in Korea, although coprolites recovered from shell middens provide key evidence for this period. With the rise of the Three Kingdoms, archaeological evidence indicates the construction and use of increasingly sophisticated toilet facilities, including cesspit and flush-type systems, which continued to develop in later historical periods. Toilets dating to the late Joseon Dynasty and the early 20th century frequently contain coprolite samples heavily infested with parasite eggs, and their detection has confirmed the presence of toilets at otherwise uncertain archaeological sites. Across both mummy and toilet contexts, commonly identified parasites include soil-transmitted helminths such as Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura, as well as food-borne trematodes, reflecting long-term interactions among sanitation practices, subsistence strategies and human health in Korea.

Paleoparasitological research has allowed the recovery and identification of parasite structures like helminth eggs, protozoan oocysts, arthropod remains, as well as parasite ancient DNA molecules preserved in human and animal-origin archaeological material from Peruvian contexts. However, these studies are still scarce in the region despite its potential to trace parasite infections and diseases through history, and to help understand ecological relationships in the past. Here, we examined 36 coprolites from rodents and South American camelids recovered from a test pit, through light microscopy-based paleoparasitological methods, in order to characterize the parasite diversity existing at the Licapa II Moche site. The results allowed us to identify six parasite taxa, including Eimeria macusaniensis, acantocephala, strongylids, Dioctophymatidae, possibly Paraspidodera sp. and Diphyllobotrium/Adenocephalus. One of these species, E. macusaniensis, allowed us to confirm the zooarchaeological origin of some coprolites as belonging to South American camelids. The urbanization and certain practices, such as the breeding of these animals by Andean societies, would explain the occurrence of these parasites at the site, while also prompting consideration of their potential effects on the health of camelids and rodents, in which parasite disease is today a major concern. Similarly, they suggest risks of zoonotic diseases to which the people who lived there in the past may have been exposed.

Malaria, historically a significant health burden in temperate Europe, particularly in the low-lying marshy areas, is often poorly represented in discussions of health in the pre-modern Netherlands. Although malaria does not produce pathognomonic skeletal lesions, the haemolytic anaemia associated with repeated infection is thought to contribute to the development of cribra orbitalia, making population-level patterns in this non-specific skeletal marker informative for exploring past malaria burden. This study applied a spatial epidemiological approach, which investigated (1) the spatial distribution of cribra orbitalia prevalence across 28 archaeological medieval sites in the Netherlands, and (2) whether this distribution can be explained by underlying environmental features consistent with malaria transmission and historical mosquito density. Global Moran’s I revealed a significant positive spatial autocorrelation in prevalence. Local Indicator of Spatial Association (LISA) analysis confirmed this, identifying distinct High–High clusters in the Southwest and Low–Low clusters in the East of the Netherlands. However, linear regression models using broad-scale environmental variables failed to explain these spatial patterns. This likely reflects their inability to capture the specific ecology of the local malaria mosquito, Anopheles atroparvus, which preferentially breeds in brackish environments. Consistent with this interpretation, cribra orbitalia prevalence was significantly positively correlated with historical (1938) estimates of A. atroparvus density. The observed clustering and correlation with mosquito density suggest that malaria contributed to cribra orbitalia prevalence and may have been an important disease in certain regions of the medieval Netherlands; however, interpretation is constrained by small non-adult sample sizes as well as uneven preservation across the Netherlands.

Calodium hepaticum (syn. Capillaria hepatica) is a generalist nematode that infects liver parenchyma of mammals worldwide and can cause human infections. Prevalence ranges from 0% to 100% in wildlife across small geographic areas, making it an ideal parasite for understanding ecological drivers of variation given intensive land use or cover change. Here, we quantify prevalence of Calodium hepaticum and present initial surveys of synanthropic small mammals. Cross-sectional rodent trapping was conducted within and around households over 2 consecutive dry seasons in 4 villages with differing land cover. DNA was extracted from liver tissue and the 18s rRNA gene of C. hepaticum was amplified to confirm presence of C. hepaticum. Landscape structural diversity was classified by tree crown density and mean canopy height derived from 30 m LiDAR data within a 0.5 km buffer. Multivariable binomial generalized linear models were fit to C. hepaticum prevalence. Calodium hepaticum infection was common (overall 34.5%, CI 95%: 27.9–41.0) and found in rodent and shrew species inside and outside residences. We observe village-level differences in prevalence (18.2–75.0%), with higher C. hepaticum prevalence associated with lower relative proportion of native rodent species to Rattus rattus (adjusted OR = 0.55, CI 95%: 0.33–0.92). Host diversity appears to be protective against parasite prevalence. Differences in molecular and gross parasitological identification highlight challenges in diagnosis and a need for more specialized molecular tools. Further investigation is required to understand individual host and community variation in pathogen infection intensity and implications for zoonotic risk.

Species of genus Clavellotis (Castro-Romero & Baeza-Kuroki, 1984) are parasites of marine fishes across the world. During the course of a survey on the metazoan parasites of marine fish across the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, specimens of a lerneapodid copepod consistent with the concept of Clavelotis were collected from the gills of three species of sparids, and were described as a new species using morphological and molecular characters. Clavellotis mayae n. sp. represents the second species of the genus reported in Mexican coastal waters. The new species morphologically resembles C. dubius and C. sebastidis in the trunk shape but can be readily distinguished by having a short maxilla which is separated to its distal end, a sub-oval and conspicuously larger aliform process, and a distal margin of the trunk bearing pronounced subcircular flaps covering the attachment sites of the egg sacs. The new species further differs from all other known congeners by having a short genital process and mandibles without secondary dentition. Molecular analyses through 28S rDNA and cox1 sequences further corroborate all these morphological distinctions and support the taxonomic placement of the new species within Clavellotis. The relationships of this species with other congeners are discussed in light of molecular evidence.

Monoplectanum monogeneans are gill parasites specific to fish in the family Sillaginidae. The sillaginid fish were collected from the middle and upper Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, Thailand, from May 2024 to January 2025. A total of 2096 fish belonging to 5 species- Sillago aeolus, S. asiatica S. indica, S. ingenuua and S. sihama were identified. Three species of Monoplectanum monogeneans were detected in 3 fish species, including 1 newly described species, M. sillaginis sp. nov. Monoplectanum sillaginis sp. nov. was found to infect 3 fish species, S. aeolus, S. indica and S. sihama, collected from the upper Gulf of Thailand. Monoplectanum youngi infected S. indica, representing a new host record, and S. sihama from both the middle and upper Gulf of Thailand. Monoplectanum australe was found to infect only S. aeolus, which was collected from the upper Gulf of Thailand. Overall prevalence and mean intensity of infections were 11.21% and 1.72, respectively. Regarding morphological features, no significant differences in key characters of both M. australe and M. youngi were observed when comparing the current and original descriptions. Monoplectanum sillaginis sp. nov., can be distinguished from these 2 species by the characteristics of its sclerotized male copulatory organ, particularly in the terminal part of the posterior prostatic reservoir, which is shuttle-shaped, as well as the number of rodlet rows in the squamodisc.

Antimalarial drug resistance has evolved repeatedly and independently in both Southeast Asia and South America, but functional studies of parasite resistance have almost all concentrated on Asian isolates. Colombia contributes nearly one-third of all Plasmodium falciparum cases in South America, primarily focused on the Pacific Coast. We assessed the presence of resistance associated genotypes and phenotypes in this region using a panel of P. falciparum isolates collected across 23 years, with a specific focus on sensitivity to historically used antimalarials chloroquine, mefloquine, pyrimethamine and sulfadoxine. The sensitivity profiles were predicted genetically using a combination of quantitative PCR assays and sequencing of known resistance-associated loci, including the artemisinin resistance-associated gene PfKelch13. The isolates were then assessed phenotypically by introduction to in vitro culture allowing both antimalarial sensitivity testing and the establishment of a biobank of Colombian isolates for further work. We established that multiple antimalarial resistance associated genotypes and phenotypes, particularly for chloroquine and mefloquine, persist across the Colombian Pacific Coast but found no evidence for the presence of artemisinin resistance-associated polymorphisms. The continued presence of resistance against historically used antimalarials argues against the use of these drugs as partner therapy for artemisinin and highlights the unique epidemiological environment of the Pacific Coast which allows for long-term maintenance of resistance.