This paper records two new species of Amplicaecum from Malayan amphibians for which the following names are proposed: Amplicaecum communis sp.nov. and A. sandoshami sp.nov. A. communis is a common parasite in a number of Malayan amphibians, but A. sandoshami has been found only in Megophrys sp.

At the request of Prof. G. H. F. Nuttall, F.R.S., the writer has attempted to put together a few notes on methods found useful in obtaining well-preserved specimens for helminthological purposes. Of the large number of methods that have been recommended for the various groups by different authorities, only a limited selection can be given, and preference is given, where possible, to those which are comparatively simple and can be employed in the field or under the limited conditions of a field laboratory, while at the same time experience has shown them to give sufficiently good results for ordinary purposes.

In conclusion, the following comments may prove suggestive:

Out of fifty-five vials of the Chinese cestodes from Charadriiform birds, fifteen have not been determined definitely, owing to the poorly preserved condition and to insufficient material for detailed study, such as Pe 510, Pe 517, Pe 526, Pe 529, Pe 552 b, Pe 588, Pe 593, Pe 1466, Pe 735 c, Pe 1431 d, Pe 760, Pe 144 b, Pe 151, Pe 848 and Pe 841 d.

In this paper, seven species are described as new, namely, Amoebotaenia fuhrmanni, A. pekinensis, Monopylidium guiarti, Choanotaenia joyeuxi, Haplo-paraxis sinenis, Fuhrmanniella clerci, and Gyrocoelia fausti.

The present study indicates, to a certain extent, that the Chinese fauna of the avian cestodes is more or less related to that of the Ural, Australia, Egypt and Europe.

Pe 848 is an interesting tapeworm recorded from the liver of Totanus calidris. Owing to the poor preservation, the strobilae can not be examined, but its incomplete rostellar hooks, larger 0·0234 mm., and smaller 0·0216 mm. shown in Fig. 54, are characteristic.

During a visit to Tanganyika, thanks to the kindness and help of the Department of Tsetse Research, I was able to investigate the reproductive cycles in Glossina morsitans and G. swynnertoni, and compare them with the cycle in G. palpalis. In the previous paper in this Journal, Mrs H. N. Mellanby gives a detailed description of her work with G. palpalis, and the following comments on the similarity of the other species is all that is required.

We produced a mAb against the Babesia caballi extracellular merozoite termed mAb 2H2 and used it to screen a cDNA expression library prepared from B. caballi merozoite mRNA for highly expressed proteins. The complete nucleotide sequence of the cloned gene had 1547 nucleotides and contained a 36-nucleotide intron. The 1398 nucleotide open reading frame predicts a 51 kDa protein showing similarity to protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) from other species. The PDI gene had a predicted N-terminal signal sequence of 19 amino acids and a C-terminal tetrapeptide sequence (His-Thr-Glu-Leu; HTEL) for retention in lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The recombinant protein expressed in baculovirus showed an apparent mass of 51 kDa, identical to that the native B. caballi protein. Moreover, the ER retention signal site (HTEL) of the recombinant protein retained its function in ER of insect cells. This 51 kDa protein was strongly expressed by extracelluar B. caballi merozoites in indirect immunofluorescence antibody tests, and was not expressed in the early phase of trophozoite development. Interestingly, detailed observation showed that the reaction of anti-P51 antibody and mAb 2H2 against pear-shaped forms was very erratic, some displaying one or two brightly fluorescent patterns.

The first full account of the life-cycle of an Eimeria sp. from the pheasant is given. The strain, isolated from pheasant chicks by single oocyst inoculation is identified as E. phasiani. It is shown that there are three distinct asexual stages prior to the onset of the sexual stage.

I should like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr E. U. Canning for her supervision and helpful advice, and to Professor O. W. Richards, F.R.S., for permission to work at the Imperial College Field Station. I am also grateful to Mr T. H. Blank, of the Eley Game Advisory Service, Fordingbridge, Hants, who gave day-old pheasant chicks for this study.

The work was financed by a scholarship from the Agricultural Research Council.

We studied the role of Trypanosoma cruzi reinfection in regard to inflammatory and cytokine response at the inoculation site, lymph node and heart. We reinfected Balb/c mice intradermically into the hind foot-pad with natural infective metacyclic trypomastigotes. They were followed from 24 h to 30 days after the last reinfection. At the inoculation site 24 h after the last re-infection, the infiltrating inflammatory cells increased dramatically with respect to baseline inflammation, reaching maximum infiltrates for the third day. In contrast, parasite DNA was undetectable 24 h after inoculation, despite poor cytokine induction, only IFN-gamma, IL-12 and TGF-β were noticeable on days 7 and 15, whereas in the lymph nodes draining the inoculation site positive expression of IL-2, IL-4, IL-12 and TGF-beta were found to be induced as soon as 24 h after re-entry of parasite. In the heart, the inflammatory response increased immediately 24 h after re-entry of parasites, reaching its maximum on the 7th day and returning to baseline on day 30. In conclusion, although the inflammatory response is triggered in both compartments by re-entry of parasites, the inflammatory process returns almost to baseline after 30 days, leaving a persistent low-grade inflammation.

Prototheca richardsi, an unpigmented heterotrophic alga, causes growth inhibition in amphibian larvae and has proved refractory to culture in Vitro. P. richardsi replication is dependent on regular passaging through tadpole digestive systems; uptake of thymidine by free-living Prototheca cells and incorporation into DNA are very low by comparison with leucine uptake and incorporation into protein, but DNA synthesis is detectable in cells isolated from tadpole intestines. DNA replication was elicited 6–8 h after ingestion in protothecans fed to tadpoles and subsequently re-isolated from them, providing that the tadpoles were fed subsequent to the ingestion. It appears that passaging through tadpole intestines provides an essential stimulus to maintaining an active cell division cycle in P. richardsi.

Parasitic nematodes are significant pathogens of humans and other animals. The molecular and genetic basis of animal parasitism is not yet fully understood. Strongyloides spp. are a genus of gastrointestinal nematodes of which species infect approximately 100–200 million people worldwide. S. ratti is a natural parasite of the rat, and a useful and amenable laboratory model. Previous EST and microarray analyses of the S. ratti life cycle have identified genes whose expression was specific, or biased, to the parasitic adult stage, suggesting that they may play a key role in parasitism in this species. Here we have further investigated the expression of these genes (by RT-PCR) throughout the S. ratti life-cycle. We produced recombinant proteins in vitro for a subset of these genes, which were used in Western blot analyses to investigate the distribution of the gene products among different stages of the S. ratti life cycle. We tested the efficacy of these recombinant proteins as anti-S. ratti vaccines. One of the proteins was detected in the excretory/secretory products of the parasitic stages.

The modern history of the group of parasites of which this paper relates begins with the unfortunate publication on the same day—December 28th, 1899—of two simultaneous revisions of the Trematoda by Looss and Lühe, which has led to endless confusion and difficulties of nomenclature. In the present instance both writers described new genera under the same name—Telorchis—placing in each somewhat similar assemblages of species, yet not sufficiently close in character to be accepted as synonymous genera; at the same time each writer wisely selected a type species and thereby rendered the task of unravelling this knot in systematics very easier. The position will be at once apparent on comparing the two descriptions, and in order to facilitate this I have rearranged the translated clauses of each so that they appear in the same order:

Scanning electron microscope observations of the frontal papillae and peribuccal cuticle of four species of raillietiellid pentastomids have shown an array of sensilla which are grouped in characteristic patterns. The arrangement of sensilla is remarkably uniform within the species studied and it cannot be used in specific diagnosis. Possible functions are suggested.

A laboratory strain of Eimeria acervulina was found to develop in the caeca when large numbers of excysted sporozoites were injected into that organ. Both schizonts and gametocytes were formed, but parasitization of the caeca was never heavy and did not increase with serial passage. The infection was not increased by the simultaneous injection of betamethasone.

Diploid (2n = 2x = 20) and triploid (2n = 3x = 30) Fasciola hepatica have been reported in the UK, and in Asia diploid, triploid and mixoploid (2x/3x) Fasciola spp. exist but there is little information to indicate how common triploidy is, particularly in UK fluke. Here the ploidy of 565 adult F. hepatica from 66 naturally infected British sheep and 150 adult F. hepatica from 35 naturally infected British cattle was determined. All 715 of these parasites were diploid, based on observation of 10 bivalent chromosomes and sperm (n = 335) or, since triploids are aspermic, sperm alone (n = 380). This constitutes the first extensive analysis of the ploidy of F. hepatica field isolates from Great Britain and shows that most F. hepatica isolated from cattle and sheep are diploid and have the capacity to sexually reproduce. These data suggest that triploidy, and by extension parthenogenesis, is rare or non-existent in wild British F. hepatica populations. Given that F. hepatica is the only species of Fasciola present in Britain our results indicate that the parasite is predominantly diploid in areas where F. hepatica exists in isolation and suggests that triploidy may only originate in natural populations where co-infection of F. hepatica and its sister species Fasciola gigantica commonly occurs.

Eosinophils are important immune cells that have been implicated in resistance to gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections in both naturally and experimentally infected sheep. Proteins of particular importance appear to be IgA-Fc alpha receptor (FcαRI), C-C chemokine receptor type 3 (CCR3), proteoglycan 3 (PRG3, major basic protein 2) and EPX (eosinophil peroxidase). We used known human nucleotide sequences to search the ruminant genomes, followed by translation to protein and sequence alignments to visualize differences between sequences and species. Where a sequence was retrieved for cow, but not for sheep and goat, this was used additionally as a reference sequence. In this review, we show that eosinophil function varies among host species. Consequently, investigations into the mechanisms of ruminant immune responses to GIN should be conducted using the natural host. Specifically, we address differences in protein sequence and structure for eosinophil proteins.

Three species of two-clawed Mallophaga have heretofore been recorded from South American mammals. Concerning one of these species, Menopon extraneum Piaget, nothing is known aside from the information included in the original description and, judging from this and the accompanying figure, it appears not to differ from the usual type of bird-infesting members of this group. The other two species have each been made the type of a genus and these two genera have been considered by Harrison as representing a well-marked family, the Trimenoponidae.

Although not new, the ‘One Health’ concept is gaining progressively more importance in parasitology. Now more than ever, veterinary and human perspectives should be closely joined in diagnosis and surveillance of neglected parasitic diseases. We argue that concerted, standardized and harmonized diagnostic and surveillance strategies are needed for the control and/or elimination of animal and human neglected parasitic infections. A key challenge is to integrate parasitological data with available geospatial methods in an accessible and user-friendly framework. We discuss the capability of new diagnostic devices (e.g. Mini-FLOTAC) and geospatial technologies supported by mobile- and electronic-based approaches as one of the research priorities of the new millennium.

Growth of Hymenolepis nana in mice is analysed by identifying designated stages of proglottid maturation in the strobila, and by determining the numbers of proglottids between them and the posterior terminus of the worm, as a function of time after cysticercoid infection. The proglottid maturation rate was fairly constant between stage A (onset of the somatic primordium formation) and stage B (first appearance of sperms in the seminal vesicle), but gradually fell after stage B, during pre-patent development of the worm. The actual rate of proglottization during this period coincided well with that estimated from the number of proglottids between stages A and B on an assumption of a certain maturation rate. This procedure is extended to estimate the rates of proglottid formation and shedding during later development. It is deduced that the absolute rate of proglottization increases until day 12, gradually decreasing afterwards, and that from 2300 to 2800 proglottids are shed by day 20, until which from 4000 to 4500 proglottids have passed stage A. It is shown that the proportionate increase of the gravid region in older worms depends not only on a decrease in the rate of proglottization, but also on the prolonged period during which proglottids stay in the strobila.

Stratospheric ozone depletion threatens to increase exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation which is known to be a factor in a number of diseases. There is little doubt that cumulative exposure to UV radiation is important in the aetiology of non-melanoma skin cancers. Evidence is also strong for a link with cutaneous malignant melanoma, although here it appears to be intermittent intense exposure that is most damaging. More controversial is the view that exposure to solar radiation is a significant factor in ocular damage, particularly in the formation of cataracts. Earlier studies pointing to such an effect have been criticized and alternative aetiological hypotheses have been proposed. However, other studies do show an effect of UV exposure on cortical cataract. Concern is also growing that UV may be capable of activating viruses and have immunological effects that might exacerbate infectious disease. Very worrying is the possibility that UV exposure can activate the human immunodeficiency virus which might accelerate the onset of AIDS. Any such health effects that have been observed in human populations are the result of exposure to existing, naturally occurring levels of UV radiation. There is, therefore, great concern about the possible exacerbation of these impacts as a result of increased exposure to UV radiation associated with stratospheric ozone depletion. However, any assessment of the nature and scale of such impacts on human health has to deal with several major problems and these are the focus of this paper. There are uncertainties about recent trends in stratospheric ozone and problems in the prediction of future changes. Following on from this are the difficulties of estimating what effects these changes will have on UV flux at ground level in populated areas. Further problems arise in the prediction of changes in biologically significant doses to humans which might be affected by changes in behaviour as well as by changes in the environment. Finally, the limitations of existing epidemiological knowledge of the effects of UV exposure are a constraint on our ability to predict what the health effects of any changed UV doses might be.