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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1562814
This article is part of the Research Topic Pathogen Transmission at the Domestic-Wildlife Interface: A Growing Challenge that Requires Integrated Solutions - Volume II View all 5 articles
High Prevalence of Blastocystis sp. in Farmed Sika Deer (Cervus nippon) in Northern China
Provisionally accepted
Zhen-Qiu Gao 1
Yang Gao 2 Hong-Di Zhuang 3 Guang-Rong Bao 4 Jing Liu 5 Jian-Ming Li 3
Nianyu Xue 6 Hong-Wei Cao 1
Shuo Liu 4*- 1 School of Pharmacy, Yancheng Teachers University, Yancheng, Jiangsu, China
- 2 State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China
- 3 College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin Agriculture University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China
- 4 College of Veterinary Medicine, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China
- 5 College of Life Sciences, Changchun Sci-Tech University, Shuangyang, China
- 6 College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
Blastocystis sp. is a widespread intestinal protist, that threatens the health of humans and animals. However, epidemiological data on Blastocystis sp. in sika deer are still scarce in China and globally. This study aimed to reveal the infection rate, and subtype distribution of Blastocystis sp. in farmed sika deer across China. A total of 466 fresh fecal samples were collected from farmed sika deer in northern China. A 600 bp fragment of the SSU rRNA was amplified to detect the presence of Blastocystis sp. in samples. The results revealed an overall infection rate of Blastocystis sp. at 65.02% (303/466). The highest infection rate was found in Shandong (98%, 49/50), followed by Heilongjiang (95.51%, 85/89), while the lowest infection rate was found in Jilin (36.31%, 61/168). Additionally, within the seasonal group, the infection rate was significantly higher in autumn (69.04%) than in summer (43.06%). In the age group, although the infection rate in young animals (68.38%) washigher than in adults (63.90%), no statistical difference was observed. ten subtypes were identified from 303 Blastocystis sp.-positive samples, including ST1, ST5, ST10, ST14, ST21, ST23, ST24, ST26, ST30 and ST42. Among these, ST10 was the dominant subtype with an infection rate of 43.23% (131/303), and ST1 and ST5 were zoonotic subtypes. Notably, this study is the first to report the presence of ST42 in sika deer. These findings suggest that sika deer may serve as a potential source of Blastocystis sp. infection in humans.
Keywords: Blastocystis sp., Sika deer, Prevalence, Zoonotic, China
Received: 18 Jan 2025; Accepted: 26 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gao, Gao, Zhuang, Bao, Liu, Li, Xue, Cao and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Shuo Liu, College of Veterinary Medicine, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China
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