Molecular identification and phylogenetic analysis of , and in snakes from central China.

Snakes are popular as food and traditional medicine in China. However, information about parasitic and bacterial infections in snakes from China is scarce. We investigated the prevalence of selected zoonotic agents including , and , in snakes in central China from June to October in 2018 by PCR amplification using parasite-specific primers. PCR amplification and DNA sequencing showed that 10.1% (15/149) of snakes were positive for spp., while 2.7% (4/149) were positive for . Additionally, we found 36.9% (55/149) of snakes were infected with . The spargana burden per infected snake ranged from 1 to 26. BLAST and phylogenetic analysis of small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene and 60-kDa glycoprotein () gene showed that the parasites belonged to genotype IIdA15G1, , and a species. We conclude that intensively farmed snakes excrete and oocysts due to ingestion of infected feeder animals, and that wild snakes in central China were commonly infected with , suggesting that eating improperly cooked snakes could be risky to human health.