Veterinary Parasitology Research Group, The University of Sydney

10/11/2025

Our AVBS Honours students absolutely smashed their final presentations yesterday 🎓 and we couldn't be prouder! The breadth of work this year's students delivered, from wildlife health, on-farm diagnostics, antimicrobial resistance surveillance, and parasite ecology, perfectly demonstrates how parasitology is for everyone!

👏 Huge congrats to:
• Jaisy Chong (Jan): Screening for the presence of Strongyloides stercoralis in dogs from Sydney using real-time quantitative PCR
• Priscilla Huynh (Nichola): First frost, last frost: Updating current knowledge on the seasonality of intermediate snail hosts of Fasciola hepatica in NSW’s Southern Tablelands
• Gurnoor Kaur (Jan): Enhancing faecal egg count reduction tests with ITS2 nemabiome
• Olivia Kelly (Emily): The “leva” dilemma: Harnessing next-generation sequencing for surveillance of levamisole resistance in Trichostrongylus colubriformis and Teladorsagia circumcincta across NSW
• Danielle Oste (Jan): Initial survey of ticks and fleas of the critically endangered Burramys parvus in Kosciuszko National Park
• Chloe Burden (Nichola): Fluke Fate: Unravelling the role of macropods in contamination of shared pasture with liver fluke in the NSW Southern Tablelands

As a group, they demonstrated methods that matter, combining traditional parasitology techniques with qPCR, ITS-2 nemabiome sequencing and NGS to answer real surveillance and ecology questions, bridging theory with decision-ready data. Their projects embodied One Health, spanning companion animals, livestock, wildlife and their parasites, and highlight how parasite control intersects with animal welfare, farm productivity and conservation outcomes.

Throughout the year, they have shown that communication counts, translating complex analyses and datasets into clear narratives for mixed audiences, including their student peers, farmers, and discipline experts at National parasitology conferences. Just as importantly, they embraced the reality of parasitology: pre-dawn starts, muddy paddocks, big data, hours at the microscope, and a commitment to scientific excellence!

We're so proud of them! Join us in wishing them luck in their upcoming exams.

Veterinary Sciences, University of Sydney Australian Society for Parasitology

24/10/2025

🎓 Huge congratulations to the newly-minted Dr. Phoebe Rivory! 🎉

Last week, Phoebe officially graduated with her PhD in Parasitology, and what a journey it’s been! From her early days as an Honours student working on tropical frog p**p 🐸💩 to leading national research on Angiostrongylus disease in dogs, Phoebe’s curiosity, persistence, and passion for parasites have shone through every step of the way.

As Jan put it best:

“I’m incredibly proud of Phoebe! She first joined us during her Honours, working on p**p samples from tropical frogs. A few moons later, she returned; clearly, the parasitology bug had bitten! From there, the rest is history. Phoebe led the charge on understanding Angiostrongylus disease in dogs and Australia like no one else. Thanks to her dedication and insight, we now know far more than we ever imagined at the start. Cheers to Phoebe!”

Phoebe’s work has had a major impact by improving our understanding of this emerging parasite and strengthening Australia’s diagnostic and surveillance capacity for canine angiostrongyliasis.

And the best part? She hasn’t strayed too far! 🧡 Phoebe has joined the Veterinary Pathology Diagnostic Services (VPDS) team as the Parasitology Technician, meaning we still get to see her in action every day in the McMaster Building.

We couldn’t be prouder of everything she’s achieved and can’t wait to see what comes next. Congratulations again, Phoebe — you’ve earned every bit of this moment! 🥂🎓

Veterinary Sciences, University of Sydney Australian Society for Parasitology

06/10/2025

☀️ Happy long weekend from sunny Sydney! One of our good friends Dr Stephen Page forwarded the below video, which is a great way to fill 10 minutes (and maybe learn a thing or two about parasites!) on a lazy afternoon.

This short film from Scientific American, “Save the Parasites,” is a fascinating exploration of a part of biodiversity that most people would rather ignore. While conservation campaigns often focus on charismatic and cuddly creatures like pandas or whales, parasites make up an enormous proportion of life on Earth. They shape ecosystems, regulate host populations, and even drive evolutionary change — yet they’re disappearing at alarming rates, often unnoticed.

The video includes a range of striking images of parasite diversity, from the microscopic to the macroscopic, and highlights the growing scientific call to include parasites in global conservation conversations. It’s a reminder that biodiversity isn’t just about the visible or the beloved; it’s also about the hidden networks of life that keep ecosystems functioning.

As a little long-weekend challenge, we invite you to see how many parasite species you can identify in the film. Keep an eye out until the end — there’s a shot that lists them all. How many can you name before they appear?

👉 Watch here:

One in three parasitic species is in danger. Here’s why humans may need to power through the ‘ick’ to save them

03/10/2025

🌟 While you’re packing for the long weekend, here’s what we got up to a little while ago at the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology (WAAVP) 2025 in Brazil! 🌟

👏 Prof. Jan Šlapeta received WAAVP’s highest honour – the Research in Veterinary Parasitology Award – recognising his outstanding global contributions in helminthology, protozoology, and entomology. A huge career milestone celebrated on the world stage – congratulations, Jan! 🎉

🔬 Jan and Prof. John Gilleard (University of Calgary) hosted a roundtable on Nemabiome metabarcoding & deep sequencing. Our own Dr Emily Francis joined seven other international experts, sharing fresh insights and unpublished work on challenges in metabarcoding – from tracking drug resistance to teasing apart tricky species IDs.

🌿 Dr Nichola Calvani co-organised two Fasciola symposia with Dr Carolina DeMarco Verissimo (University of Galway), showcasing complementary perspectives from lab and field research. A big shoutout to former intern Hayley DeCristi, who presented results from her 3-month placement on our Beyond Suspicion project – a fantastic achievement at her first international meeting. Nichola also presented outcomes of the National Fasciolosis Workshop (Melbourne, earlier this year), helping shape international research priorities for fasciolosis.

✨ A big week of recognition, discussion, and collaboration for the whole team.

11/08/2025

🧪🔬 Parasites, Pathogens, and a Trojan Horse! 🐑

A few weeks ago, the Veterinary Parasitology team was thrilled to take part in the Faculty of Science International Science School (ISS) 2025. This program brings together top science students from across Australia and around the world for two weeks of immersive science experiences.

Our session challenged students to think (and work!) like vets and scientists, investigating a sudden-death outbreak in prize merino sheep. Using a hands-on case study, they uncovered the real culprits — the liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) and the bacterium Clostridium novyi — and explored how these two pathogens can work together in a deadly “Trojan horse” scenario.

In the lab, students learned how to:
🔍 Perform sedimentation tests to detect parasite eggs in faecal samples
🦠 Use Gram staining to visualise and classify bacteria
💡 Think critically about disease ecology, diagnosis, and prevention in real-world veterinary cases

A huge thank you to the ISS organisers and our amazing demonstrators for making the day such a success — and to the brilliant ISS students for bringing their curiosity, teamwork, and sharp thinking to the lab! Faculty of Science, University of Sydney Veterinary Sciences, University of Sydney Australian Society for Parasitology

Learn more about the International Science School here: https://www.sydney.edu.au/science/industry-and-community/community-engagement/international-science-school.html

31/07/2025

🎉 Celebrating Student Success at SSVS Prize Night! 🎉

Last night, we were proud to celebrate the achievements of our incredible students at the Sydney School of Veterinary Science Student Prize Night. Three of our AVBS Honours students, Priscilla Huynh, Olivia Kelly and Gurnoor Kaur, were awarded Australian Wool Education Trust (AWET) scholarships for their outstanding projects supporting the sheep and wool industry 🐑🧬

With only ~20 AWET scholarships awarded nationally each year, it's fantastic that SSVS received nine, and even more exciting that three went to our parasitology students!

The Occasional address was presented by the wonderful Dr. Simone Maher, who some of you may recognise from her various roles on Australian television. Each award and scholarship recipient was also given a copy of Anne Quain's amazing Veterinary General Practice Casebook!

It was a lovely evening, but one of the highlights was definitely meeting Mulligan, the gentle Newfoundland whose owner, Mr Arthur Whitten, generously supports the Ruggles Scholarship in honour of another of his beloved dogs 🐾

A huge thank you to all the donors and industry partners who continue to support our students and their work to improve animal health and wellbeing 💙



Veterinary Sciences, University of Sydney

24/07/2025

🚜🌧 Marge, the rains are 'ere! 🐌🐾

This week, our team returned from another field trip in the NSW Southern Tablelands, where we’re investigating some of the region’s most pressing parasite challenges. From mapping liver fluke risk through longitudinal snail surveillance, to better understanding how kangaroos and farm dogs contribute to pasture contamination and hydatid disease transmission, our multi-pronged approach is shedding light on both emerging risks and effective management strategies.

Importantly, this trip came just as widespread rainfall and even snow are forecast to bring long-awaited relief to drought-stricken parts of southeastern Australia 🌧️⛄️. After months of dry, cracked paddocks, the recent rain has farmers - and livestock - breathing a sigh of relief. But for parasites like liver fluke, which depend on aquatic snails to complete their life cycle, these weather events could trigger an increase in transmission risk. With our drone Bridget capturing incredible footage of landscape changes across sites, we're documenting in real time how water availability shapes host-parasite interactions on farms.

Joining us on this trip was Dr. Kath Muscat and DVM3 Research & Enquiry student Lynnette Leong, who is leading our farmer survey on hydatid disease awareness. Originally from Singapore and interested in pursuing a career in mixed practice, this was Lynnette’s first time on a working farm outside the university setting. She jumped right in - assisting with snail collection and gaining firsthand insights into the complexity (and beauty!) of livestock production systems here in regional NSW.

Stay tuned for more updates from the field as we continue our work alongside producers to build more sustainable, evidence-based parasite control strategies 🧬🌿

Australian Society for Parasitology Liver fluke in Australian livestock Veterinary Sciences, University of Sydney