Misleading inference of schistosome epidemiology from ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and mitochondrial DNA.

Genotyping ITS and cox1 markers misrepresents schistosome hybridization and zoonotic infection, with genome sequencing revealing no recent hybrids among human parasites.

• Why it matters: Accurate identification of zoonotic schistosome infections is crucial for disease control and understanding transmission dynamics, but current methods may be misleading.
• What they did: The study genotyped 132 human and 37 cattle schistosomes using ITS and cox1 markers, then performed genome sequencing to assess actual ancestry and hybridization status.
• The result: Findings show that ITS and cox1 markers are unreliable for detecting recent hybridization, as all human parasites clustered genetically regardless of marker-based indications, highlighting the need to reinterpret past data.