Study into the identity of Angiostrongylus in a zoo in New South Wales, Australia (2022)

This project in part involved an epidemiological and molecular investigation into Angiostrongylus on a zoo property in Sydney, NSW, Australia. Here we undertook a survey, focussing on the resident pest rat population for Angiostrongylus risk-mapping. We aimed to genetically characterise the mtDNA of the A. cantonensis haplotype predominating in the zoo, and rule out any co-infections in rat faeces with the native A. mackerrasae using ITS-2 next-generation sequencing (NGS) metabarcoding. Included are mock mixed samples used to validate the ITS-2 NGS methodology.