Strongyloides stercoralis is a neglected parasite that causes strongyloidiasis. However, the true prevalence of strongyloidiasis is underreported due to low-sensitivity diagnostic methods. This systematic review assessed the prevalence of S. stercoralis among African children and its variation by diagnostic methods, countries, and study settings. All studies published in African countries on S. stercoralis prevalence up to the year 2025 in the PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and ScienceDirect databases were included. Identification, screening, checking the eligibility, and including the relevant studies were done following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Out of 651 articles screened, 27 studies involving 16,358 children were included in the systematic review. The pooled prevalence of S. stercoralis among African children was 14% using a random-effect model. The highest pooled prevalence of S. stercoralis was recorded at 27% in Côte d'Ivoire, followed by 26% in Ethiopia. A high prevalence (36%) of S. stercoralis was obtained by a combination of PCR, culture, and microscopic diagnostic methods. This review indicated that S. stercoralis prevalence in African children is considerable and likely underestimated due to low-sensitivity diagnostics. Therefore, further studies using sensitive diagnostic approaches are urgently needed to determine the true burden of strongyloidiasis.

Bites caused by Bothrops snakes represent a major public health problem in South America and are associated with severe systemic and local clinical manifestations. Bothrops venom induces marked hemostatic and inflammatory disturbances that may result in hemorrhage, thrombocytopenia, tissue necrosis, and kidney injury. The recommended treatment for snakebite envenomation is intravenous administration of anti-Bothrops antivenom (SAB); however, this therapy has limited efficacy against venom-induced local tissue injury mediated by the release of inflammatory mediators. In this context, adjunct pharmacological strategies capable of delaying or attenuating envenomation effects before antivenom administration may be clinically valuable, particularly in remote settings. Rutin and its derivative, rutin succinate, are flavonoids with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and vasoprotective properties, and have been previously shown to mitigate venom-induced damage when administered parenterally prior to Bothrops jararaca (Bj) envenomation. Herein, we evaluated the efficacy of orally administered rutin, formulated for rapid gastrointestinal absorption (nano-rutin), used alone or in combination with SAB, in a murine model of Bj snakebite envenomation. Mice received nano-rutin by gavage 10 min after venom injection and were subsequently treated with or without SAB after 1 hour. Envenomed mice developed thrombocytopenia, leukocytosis, fibrinogen consumption, elevated levels of IL-6 and cell-free DNA (cfDNA), reduced DNAse activity, hypoalbuminemia, and marked local hemorrhage and dermonecrosis. Oral nano-rutin restored most evaluated systemic parameters, and significantly reduced local hemorrhage and dermonecrosis, even in the absence of SAB. These findings support nano-rutin as an effective complementary therapy to antivenom, particularly for mitigating local tissue damage induced by Bothrops venoms.

West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) are mainly avian mosquito-borne pathogens, increasingly cause human and equine disease in temperate regions. Mostly asymptomatic, current surveillance in France is reactive, based on clinical and veterinary reports, delaying signals for vector control and preventative interventions. We implemented in Southern France, in 2024 and 2025, a proactive surveillance methodology combining molecular xenomonitoring of mosquito excreta and environmental water detection of viral RNA in wetlands and mosquito larval habitat, through a multiplex reverse transcription digital PCR workflow. The analytics process was characterised through the limits of blank, detection, and quantification. Low-level positives were confirmed by Sanger sequencing. WNV and USUV RNA repeated detections revealed previously unrecognized, cryptic circulations up to 19 weeks before the first WNV human cases and equine alert. Environmental surveillance represents a paradigm shift for early detection of emerging Culex-borne arboviruses and a key enabler of proactive and effective One Health responses.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0012391.].

Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is caused by two subspecies of Trypanosoma brucei, T. b. gambiense and T. b. rhodesiense, with the former accounting for over 95% of all cases. HAT is an elusive disease, which is fatal unless treated, with a focal prevalence in the rural areas of tropical Africa where the tsetse fly vectors are endemic. At the same time, HAT is one of the very few infectious diseases where global elimination seems possible. The incidence is at a historic low, and new orally bioavailable drugs have been developed that will expand the coverage of treatment in endemic regions. In particular, acoziborole has passed the clinical development as a single-dose oral cure of T. b. gambiense infection. However, to win the endgame against HAT, acoziborole also needs to be extended to T. b. rhodesiense. In order to strengthen the preclinical dossier of acoziborole, we conducted an in-depth evaluation of acoziborole against the bloodstream forms of all three T. brucei subspecies with a focus on T. b. rhodesiense. Acoziborole had consistent and high activity against different T. b. rhodesiense strains, including a multidrug-resistant field isolate, with IC50 values around 600 nM. Acoziborole is faster acting than fexinidazole, and it exhibits irreversible cidality against T. b. rhodesiense at concentrations of ≥4.3 μM (1.6 μg/ml) after 15 h of incubation. At very short exposure times (≤8 h), T. b. gambiense appeared to be more sensitive than T. b. rhodesiense. However, given the extremely long elimination half-life of acoziborole in the human body, this difference will be irrelevant for its trypanocidal action in patients. We therefore conclude that acoziborole is expected to be as effective against r-HAT as against g-HAT in patient populations.

Lyssaviruses cause rabies in mammals, a viral encephalomyelitis that is almost always fatal once clinical symptoms develop and can be transmitted to humans. Given this high fatality rate, strict biosafety measures are essential during laboratory handling of potentially infectious materials. This review critically assesses current biosafety practices in rabies diagnostic and research laboratories by examining principal risk factors, transmission pathways, and the effectiveness of existing preventive measures. We conducted a comprehensive review of the literature on biosafety risks associated with handling rabies virus and related lyssaviruses, including the use of personal protective equipment, sample handling procedures, and chemical and physical methods for virus inactivation. Particular attention was given to documented cases of laboratory-acquired rabies and their implications for laboratory safety. Although laboratory-acquired infections remain rare, their occurrence highlights important gaps in current biosafety practices. The effectiveness of disinfection and inactivation methods varies widely, especially in resource-limited settings, and key diagnostic procedures, such as the direct fluorescent antibody test, require validation under biosafety constraints. Significant knowledge gaps remain regarding infectious dose, the effectiveness of decontamination methods, and diagnostic standardisation. Strengthening evidence-based biosafety protocols and validating inactivation methods are essential to ensure safer rabies diagnostics and to support effective rabies control, particularly in low-resource settings.

Fascioliasis, a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by the liver flukes Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica, poses a significant threat to livestock and human health globally. Climate change is altering the transmission dynamics of this disease; however, the direction and magnitude of this change remain uncertain due to a lack of mechanistically grounded predictions at continental scale. In this study, we developed a novel risk index to assess how climate change may affect the potential for fascioliasis transmission across Africa and Europe. The index integrates the following three components that together capture the environmental requirements for Fasciola transmission: the temperature dependence of the parasite transmission; climatic suitability for the snail intermediate host; and availability of freshwater habitats. To estimate these components, we used data from published experimental studies, thousands of snail occurrence records, and both mechanistic and correlative modelling approaches. We predict that climate change will generally reduce fascioliasis risk across most of the ranges of the two investigated liver fluke species, albeit with marked geographical differences. The transmission risk of F. gigantica is predicted to decrease in the Sahel and West Africa, due to above-optimal temperatures for parasite transmission and climatic suitability for the intermediate hosts. However, risk for F. hepatica transmission is projected to increase in parts of Northern Europe, Scandinavia, and Iceland, where livestock densities are high. We also find that the potential for hybridization between F. hepatica and F. gigantica may decline due to reduced geographic overlap in areas that are highly suitable for transmission. By providing a scalable, ecologically informed framework for predicting fascioliasis risk under climate change, this study lays the groundwork for improved local risk assessment. Our risk index focuses on the environmentally sensitive components of the Fasciola life cycle and thus does not account for other important factors such as local farming practices and vertebrate host densities. Despite this caveat, our results provide a more nuanced perspective on the potential impact of climate change on fascioliasis transmission, showing that this will be highly uneven across Africa and Europe.