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Backgrounds: Primary infection with Toxoplasma gondii during pregnancy can pose serious health problems for the fetus. However, the epidemiological status of toxoplasmosis among reproductive-aged population in Myanmar is largely unknown. Although luciferase immunoprecipitation system (LIPS) assays for serodiagnosis of toxoplasmosis was developed mostly using mouse infection model, had not been tested by using field-derived human samples., Methods: A total of 251 serum samples were collected from reproductive-aged women, residing in Shwegyin township, Bago region, Myanmar and analyzed with a commercial ELISA kit, as well as in-house LIPS assays., Results: The overall seroprevalence for Toxoplasma gondii infection by the commercial ELISA was 11.5%. No clear risk factor was identified except for being in the younger age group (15-30 years old). Overall, LIPS assays showed low sensitivity when the commercial ELSA was used as a reference test., Conclusion: We identified the epidemiological situation of toxoplasmosis in some rural communities in Myanmar. The data obtained here will serve as a primary information for the effort to reduce toxoplasmosis in this region. Although looked promising in the previous experiments with mouse infection model, we found that the reported LIPS procedures need further improvements to increase the sensitivities.

Strongyloides stercoralis is a parasitic nematode and a major pathogen responsible for human strongyloidiasis. The presence of this species in the dog population has led to an interest in studying the phylogenetic relationships among Strongyloides spp. in carnivore hosts. In the present study, Strongyloides spp. from various carnivore hosts (raccoon, Japanese badger, Siberian weasel, raccoon dog, masked palm civet, and domestic cat) were sought. Except for civets, Strongyloides spp. were identified in all host species. Based on 18S rDNA sequences, nine OTUs (operational taxonomy units) were identified. Molecular phylogenetic analyses using 18S28S rDNA and mitochondrial cox1 (cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1) sequences clustered them into two groups. The first group (named the stercoralis/procyonis group) was comprised of six OTUs and occurred in cats, raccoon dogs, raccoons (S. procyonis), Siberian weasels, and Japanese badgers and included S. stercoralis from humans and dogs. The second group (named the planiceps group) was made up of Strongyloides spp. from raccoon dogs (two OTUs) and one OTU from Siberian weasels. Subsequent analysis using almost the full-length nucleotide sequences of protein-coding genes in their mitochondrial genomes placed Strongyloides spp. of cats in a sister taxon position to S. stercoralis, whereas S. procyonis from raccoons was more distantly related to them. The presence of Strongyloides spp. from various carnivore hosts, which are close relatives of S. stercoralis, suggests this group of Strongyloides (the stercoralis/procyonis group) essentially evolved as parasites of carnivores, although more data on Strongyloides spp. from primate hosts are needed., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)