Wei Wei

Lyme borreliosis has been reported across China, but data on Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato exposure in humans and infection in questing Ixodes ticks remains fragmented and heterogeneous. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the pooled seroprevalence of B. burgdorferi sensu lato exposure in humans and infection prevalence in questing or unfed Ixodes ticks in China and to explore potential sources of heterogeneity. Six English- and Chinese-language databases were searched from inception to 10 September 2025. Eligible cross-sectional studies reported both the number examined and the number positive, with a minimum sample size of 30. Human analyses were restricted to serological evidence, whereas tick analyses included questing or unfed Ixodes ticks collected from vegetation or the environment. Random-effects models, subgroup analyses, and univariate random-effects meta-regression were applied. A total of 186 studies were included, of which 167 reported human data, 22 reported PCR-based data from questing Ixodes ticks, and 3 reported both human and tick data. The pooled human seroprevalence was 7% (95% CI: 6–8%), and the pooled PCR-confirmed infection prevalence in questing Ixodes ticks was 20% (95% CI: 10–32%). Substantial heterogeneity was observed in both analyses. For questing Ixodes ticks, infection prevalence showed marked geographical heterogeneity, with the highest pooled estimate observed in Northeastern China. In univariate meta-regression, Northern China showed a significantly lower estimate than Northeastern China, whereas sampling year, reported Borrelia genospecies, and Ixodes species were not significantly associated with pooled prevalence. Leave-one-out analyses indicated that the pooled estimates were not driven by any single study. These findings demonstrate that human exposure and environmental circulation of B. burgdorferi sensu lato have been documented across multiple regions of China but remain highly heterogeneous.

Background: Trichostrongylus infection is an often overlooked parasitic disease affecting both humans and animals, with significant implications for public health and veterinary medicine. Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic literature search across Web of Science, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Google Scholar, covering studies on Trichostrongylus infections up to 18 February 2025. A random‐effects model was used to estimate pooled prevalence at both regional and national levels. Results: A total of 265 studies from 60 countries were included in this analysis. The overall pooled prevalence was estimated at 5% in humans, 25% in ovines, and 18% in bovines. Key risk factors included continent, altitude, sampling year, and Trichostrongylus species. Across all three host groups, females exhibited higher infection rates than males. In ovines and bovines, higher prevalence was associated with temperatures above 20 °C, relative humidity of 46%–65%, and low altitude; rainfall showed host‐specific patterns, with higher prevalence at ≤800 mm in humans and ovines and at >800 mm in bovines. In addition, the host species among ruminants and their feeding models were found to influence infection risk. Conclusion: Trichostrongylus remains a shared health threat at the human–livestock–environment interface, with the highest prevalence in ovines and bovines in China. These findings support a One Health approach that integrates coordinated surveillance across humans and ruminants, climate‐informed hotspot targeting, and interventions that reduce environmental contamination alongside improved diagnostics and veterinary–public health collaboration.

Background: The entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium brunneum (M. brunneum) is an effective biocontrol agent against various vector arthropods such as ticks, mosquitoes, and flies. However, its virulence mechanisms remain poorly understood, which hinders its broader application. This study aims to establish an integrative framework for prioritizing virulence-related pathways in M. brunneum to aid in the development of more effective biocontrol strategies. Methods: A multidimensional virulence pathway scoring framework was developed using publicly available protein annotation data of M. brunneum. This approach integrates protein pathway enrichment, Gene Ontology (GO) functional analysis, PHI-base virulence factor mapping, and literature-derived evidence. A total of 20 pathways were evaluated, and a scoring system was applied based on protein coverage, Gene Ontology Biological Process (GO-BP) support, PHI-base hits, and literature support. Results: Among the 20 pathways evaluated, five pathways, including MAPK signaling, apoptosis, endocytosis, carbon metabolism, and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites received the highest priority scores. These pathways were identified as key virulence-related candidates, supported by both functional annotation and existing biological evidence. Conclusions: The proposed framework provides a reliable and scalable strategy for prioritizing virulence pathways in entomopathogenic fungi. It offers a solid foundation for subsequent transcriptomic validation, target screening, and functional characterization. This framework can also be applied to other fungi, contributing to the development of optimized biocontrol formulations.

Clonorchis sinensis is an important zoonotic parasite that is mainly prevalent in China, Korea, Vietnam and the Russian Far East. To explore the genetic variation and population structure of C. sinensis, an in silico analysis was conducted based on mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COX1), ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) and ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) sequences. The sequences obtained from NCBI were truncated for further analyses, including haplotype network, phylogenetic, gene flow, diversity and neutrality analyses. The results showed that there were 20, 11 and 4 haplotypes for COX1, ITS1 and ITS2, respectively. The results of both the haplotype network and phylogenetic analyses indicated that the haplotypes for each type of sequence from the same country were not all clustered together. Haplotype diversity values were all lower than 0.5. Values of nucleotide diversity were higher than 0.005, except for ITS2. Tajima’s D and Fu’s Fs values were all negative, and p-values showed significant differences, indicating that the population of C. sinensis is growing. Fst values were all lower than 0.05. In conclusion, this study found that there are specific variations of C. sinensis in different countries, and the population of this parasite is growing with less genetic variation. The findings provide a crucial foundation for understanding the molecular epidemiology and population dynamics of C. sinensis.