CHINESE JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY AND PARASITIC DISEASES >

2025 , Vol. 43 >Issue 4: 463 - 468

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12140/j.issn.1000-7423.2025.04.003

EXPERT VIEWPOINT

Health threat and ecological function of parasites

  • WANG Xu ,
  • YIN Jianhai ,
  • HAN Shuai ,
  • YANG Yang ,
  • LI Mengqing ,
  • SHEN Yujuan ,
  • CAO Jianping
Expand
  • 1 National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Chinese Center for Tropical Diseases Research; National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases; NHC Key Laboratory on Parasite and Vector Biology; WHO Collaborating Centre for Tropical Diseases; National Center for International Research on Tropical Diseases, Ministry of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200025, China
    2 School of Global Health, Chinese Center for Tropical Diseases Research, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China

Received date: 2025-01-16

  Revised date: 2025-04-25

  Online published: 2025-08-14

Supported by

National Natural Science Foundation of China(82404325);National Natural Science Foundation of China(82272369)

Fold

Abstract

Along with the ubiquitous parasitic relationship, parasites are widely distributed across all ecological systems in the world. The parasitic behavior of parasites to the host may cause multiple parasitic diseases, posing persistent threats to human and animal health. Meanwhile, as key participants in functional networks of ecosystems, parasites play irreplaceable ecological roles in maintaining the earth’s ecosystem homeostasis through regulating host population dynamics, energy flow and biodiversity. This review analyzes the dual biological role of parasites from perspectives of pathogenic threats and ecological services, and discusses the potential application of interdisciplinary approaches in parasitology and parasitic diseases research under the collaborative framework of “One Health” and “Ecohealth”.

Key words： Parasite; Parasitic disease; One Health; EcoHealth; Zoonosis

Cite this article

WANG Xu , YIN Jianhai , HAN Shuai , YANG Yang , LI Mengqing , SHEN Yujuan , CAO Jianping . Health threat and ecological function of parasites[J]. CHINESE JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY AND PARASITIC DISEASES, 2025 , 43(4) : 463 -468 . DOI: 10.12140/j.issn.1000-7423.2025.04.003

References

[1] Balloux F, van Dorp L. Q&A: What are pathogens, and what have they done to and for us[J]. BMC Biol, 2017, 15(1): 91.
[2] Editorial. Microbiology by numbers[J]. Nat Rev Microbiol, 2011, 9(9): 628.
[3] Robertson LJ. Parasites in food: From a neglected position to an emerging issue[J]. Adv Food Nutr Res, 2018, 86: 71-113.
[4] WHO. First WHO report on neglected tropical diseases 2010: Working to overcome the global impact of neglected tropical diseases[R]. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2010: 1-15.
[5] Blake DP, Betson M. One health: Parasites and beyond[J]. Parasitology, 2017, 144(1): 1-6.
[6] Torgerson PR, Mac Pherson CNL. The socioeconomic burden of parasitic zoonoses: Global trends[J]. Vet Parasitol, 2011, 182(1): 79-95.
[7] Torgerson PR. One world health: Socioeconomic burden and parasitic disease control priorities[J]. Vet Parasitol, 2013, 195(3/4): 223-232.
[8] Deol AK, Fleming FM, Calvo-Urbano B, et al. Schistosomiasis-assessing progress toward the 2020 and 2025 global goals[J]. N Engl J Med, 2019, 381(26): 2519-2528.
[9] Venkatesan P. The 2023 WHO World malaria report[J]. Lancet Microbe, 2024, 5(3): e214.
[10] 陈颖丹, 周长海, 朱慧慧, 等. 2015年全国人体重点寄生虫病现状调查分析[J]. 中国寄生虫学与寄生虫病杂志, 2020, 38(1): 5-16.
  Chen YD, Zhou CH, Zhu HH, et al. National survey on the current status of important human parasitic diseases in China in 2015[J]. Chin J Parasitol Parasit Dis, 2020, 38(1): 5-16. (in Chinese)
[11] Li T, He SY, Zhao H, et al. Major trends in human parasitic diseases in China[J]. Trends Parasitol, 2010, 26(5): 264-270.
[12] Andrew Thompson RC. Parasite zoonoses and wildlife: One Health, spillover and human activity[J]. Int J Parasitol, 2013, 43(12/13): 1079-1088.
[13] Herrero M, Thornton PK, Gerber P, et al. Livestock, livelihoods and the environment: Understanding the trade-offs[J]. Curr Opin Environ Sustain, 2009, 1(2): 111-120.
[14] Chapman HD, Barta JR, Blake D, et al. A selective review of advances in coccidiosis research[J]. Adv Parasitol, 2013, 83: 93-171.
[15] Cardona GA, Carmena D. A review of the global prevalence, molecular epidemiology and economics of cystic echinococcosis in production animals[J]. Vet Parasitol, 2013, 192(1/2/3): 10-32.
[16] Otranto D, Dantas-Torres F, Mihalca AD, et al. Zoonotic parasites of sheltered and stray dogs in the era of the global economic and political crisis[J]. Trends Parasitol, 2017, 33(10): 813-825.
[17] Chalkowski K, Wilson AE, Lepczyk CA, et al. Who let the cats out: A global meta-analysis on risk of parasitic infection in indoor versus outdoor domestic cats (Felis catus)[J]. Biol Lett, 2019, 15(4): 20180840.
[18] Vermeulen LC, Benders J, Medema G, et al. Global Cryptosporidium loads from livestock manure[J]. Environ Sci Technol, 2017, 51(15): 8663-8671.
[19] Rushton J, Bruce M. Using a One Health approach to assess the impact of parasitic disease in livestock: How does it add value[J]. Parasitology, 2017, 144(1): 15-25.
[20] Lloyd-Smith JO, George D, Pepin KM, et al. Epidemic dynamics at the human-animal interface[J]. Science, 2009, 326(5958): 1362-1367.
[21] Jenkins EJ, Simon A, Bachand N, et al. Wildlife parasites in a One Health world[J]. Trends Parasitol, 2015, 31(5): 174-180.
[22] Murray KA, Preston N, Allen T, et al. Global biogeography of human infectious diseases[J]. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2015, 112(41): 12746-12751.
[23] Wells K, Gibson DI, Clark NJ, et al. Global spread of helminth parasites at the human-domestic animal-wildlife interface[J]. Glob Chang Biol, 2018, 24(7): 3254-3265.
[24] Rizzoli A, Tagliapietra V, Cagnacci F, et al. Parasites and wildlife in a changing world: The vectorhost pathogen interaction as a learning case[J]. Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl, 2019, 9: 394-401.
[25] Polley L, Andrew Thompson RC. Parasite zoonoses and climate change: Molecular tools for tracking shifting boundaries[J]. Trends Parasitol, 2009, 25(6): 285-291.
[26] Gajadhar AA, Allen JR. Factors contributing to the public health and economic importance of waterborne zoonotic parasites[J]. Vet Parasitol, 2004, 126(1/2): 3-14.
[27] Gajadhar AA, Scandrett WB, Forbes LB. Overview of food- and water-borne zoonotic parasites at the farm level[J]. Rev Sci Tech, 2006, 25(2): 595-606.
[28] Almeria S, Robertson L, Santin M. Why foodborne and waterborne parasites are important for veterinarians[J]. Res Vet Sci, 2021, 136: 198-199.
[29] Amoah ID, Singh G, Stenstr?m TA, et al. Detection and quantification of soil-transmitted helminths in environmental samples: A review of current state-of-the-art and future perspectives[J]. Acta Trop, 2017, 169: 187-201.
[30] Eslahi AV, Olfatifar M, Zaki L, et al. Global prevalence of intestinal protozoan parasites among food handlers: A systematic review and meta-analysis[J]. Food Control, 2023, 145: 109466.
[31] He C, Kim H, Hashizume M, et al. The effects of night-time warming on mortality burden under future climate change scenarios: A modelling study[J]. Lancet Planet Health, 2022, 6(8): e648.e657.
[32] Rohr JR, Dobson AP, Johnson PTJ, et al. Frontiers in climate changedisease research[J]. Trends Ecol Evol, 2011, 26(6): 270-277.
[33] Carlson CJ, Burgio KR, Dougherty ER, et al. Parasite biodiversity faces extinction and redistribution in a changing climate[J]. Sci Adv, 2017, 3(9): e1602422.
[34] Pickles RSA, Thornton D, Feldman R, et al. Predicting shifts in parasite distribution with climate change: A multitrophic level approach[J]. Glob Chang Biol, 2013, 19(9): 2645-2654.
[35] Hudson PJ, Dobson AP, Lafferty KD. Is a healthy ecosystem one that is rich in parasites[J]. Trends Ecol Evol, 2006, 21(7): 381-385.
[36] Poulin R. The many roads to parasitism: A tale of convergence[J]. Adv Parasitol, 2011, 74: 1-40..
[37] Levine ND, Corliss JO, Cox FE, et al. A newly revised classification of the protozoa[J]. J Protozool, 1980, 27(1): 37-58.
[38] Hoberg EP. Foundations for an integrative parasitology: Collections, archives, and biodiversity informatics[J]. Comp Parasitol, 2002, 69(2): 124-131.
[39] Dallas TA, Aguirre AA, Budischak S, et al. Gauging support for macroecological patterns in helminth parasites[J]. Glob Ecol Biogeogr, 2018, 27(12): 1437-1447.
[40] Carlson CJ, Dallas TA, Alexander LW, et al. What would it take to describe the global diversity of parasites[J]. Proc Biol Sci, 2020, 287(1939): 20201841.
[41] Poulin R. Parasite biodiversity revisited: Frontiers and constraints[J]. Int J Parasitol, 2014, 44(9): 581-589.
[42] Auld SKJR, Tinsley MC. The evolutionary ecology of complex lifecycle parasites: Linking phenomena with mechanisms[J]. Heredity (Edinb), 2015, 114(2): 125-132.
[43] Parker GA, Chubb JC, Ball MA, et al. Evolution of complex life cycles in helminth parasites[J]. Nature, 2003, 425(6957): 480-484.
[44] Gandon S, Michalakis Y. Local adaptation, evolutionary potential and host parasite coevolution: Interactions between migration, mutation, population size and generation time[J]. J Evol Biol, 2002, 15(3): 451-462.
[45] Thomas F, Guégan JF, Michalakis Y, et al. Parasites and host life-history traits: Implications for community ecology and species co-existence[J]. Int J Parasitol, 2000, 30(5): 669-674.
[46] Forbes MRL. Parasitism and host reproductive effort[J]. Oikos, 1993, 67(3): 444.
[47] Thomas, Oget, Gente, et al. Assortative pairing with respect to parasite load in the beetle Timarcha maritima (Chrysomelidae)[J]. J Evol Biol, 1999, 12(2): 385-390.
[48] Tompkins DM, Greenman JV, Robertson PA, et al. The role of shared parasites in the exclusion of wildlife hosts: Heterakis gallinarum in the ring-necked pheasant and the grey partridge[J]. J Anim Ecol, 2000, 69(5): 829-840.
[49] Lefèvre T, Lebarbenchon C, Gauthier-Clerc M, et al. The ecological significance of manipulative parasites[J]. Trends Ecol Evol, 2009, 24(1): 41-48.
[50] Wood MJ. Parasites entangled in food webs[J]. Trends Parasitol, 2007, 23(1): 8-10.
[51] Marcogliese DJ. Parasites of the superorganism: Are they indicators of ecosystem health[J]. Int J Parasitol, 2005, 35(7): 705-716.
[52] Sures B, Nachev M, Selbach C, et al. Parasite responses to pollution: What we know and where we go in ‘Environmental Parasitology’[J]. Parasit Vectors, 2017, 10(1): 65.
[53] Barnes AN, Davaasuren A, Baasandavga U, et al. Zoonotic enteric parasites in Mongolian people, animals, and the environment: Using One Health to address shared pathogens[J]. PLoS Negl Trop Dis, 2021, 15(7): e0009543.
[54] Galán-Puchades MT, Trelis M, Sáez-Durán S, et al. One health approach to zoonotic parasites: Molecular detection of intestinal protozoans in an urban population of Norway rats, Rattus norvegicus, in Barcelona, Spain[J]. Pathogens, 2021, 10(3): 311.
[55] Krecek RC, Rabinowitz PM, Conrad PA. Demystifying and demonstrating the value of a One Health approach to parasitological challenges[J]. Vet Parasitol, 2020, 287: 109202.
[56] Schurer JM, Mosites E, Li C, et al. Community-based surveillance of zoonotic parasites in a ‘One Health’ world: A systematic review[J]. One Health, 2016, 2: 166-174.
[57] Lancet T. One Health: A call for ecological equity[J]. Lancet, 2023, 401(10372): 169.
[58] Gittleman JL. “One Health” needs ecology[J]. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2024, 121(50): e2413367121.
[59] Harrison S, Kivuti-Bitok L, Mac Millan A, et al. EcoHealth and One Health: A theory-focused review in response to calls for convergence[J]. Environ Int, 2019, 132: 105058.
[60] Zinsstag J. Convergence of EcoHealth and One Health[J]. Ecohealth, 2012, 9(4): 371-373.
[61] Zinsstag J, Schelling E, Waltner-Toews D, et al. From “One Medicine” to “One Health” and systemic approaches to health and well-being[J]. Prev Vet Med, 2011, 101(3/4): 148-156.
[62] Charron DF. Ecosystem approaches to health for a global sustainability agenda[J]. Ecohealth, 2012, 9(3): 256-266.
[63] Orlando LF, De Pinto AJ, Wallace KJ. Ecohealth villages: A framework for an ecosystem approach to health in human settlements[J]. Sustainability, 2022, 14(12): 7053.
Options
Outlines

/

〈 〉