Paleoparasitological studies have made important contributions to our understanding of the past epidemiology of parasites, infection in past populations and lifestyle in the past. In some cases, these ancient parasites can also provide evidence for long distance travel or migration of people in the past. Three sediment samples from a 15th–16th c. CE latrine from the Spanish nation house in Bruges, Belgium were analysed for preserved helminth eggs using microscopy. Bruges was a major trading centre in medieval Europe, thus it was home to a large merchant population with extensive trading networks. Paleoparasitological analysis revealed a preserved parasite egg from Schistosoma mansoni, which causes intestinal schistosomiasis. Roundworm, whipworm, liver fluke and Taenia tapeworm eggs were also found in the latrine which is consistent with parasites previously found in the local population in the medieval period. These new data provide direct evidence for the movement of S. mansoni outside of its endemic area. Today the vast majority of S. mansoni infections occur in Sub-Saharan Africa, with additional endemic areas in the Arabian peninsula and South America. The introduction of S. mansoni into South America is proposed to have occurred relatively recently in human history, as the result of forced movement of people from Africa to the Americas with the Atlantic slave trade. Thus, this infection may have occurred in a merchant who acquired the parasite during trade voyages to Africa or in an individual living in Africa who migrated to Bruges.

We conducted a paleoparasitological study on sediment samples from two trash pits and a cesspool, collected during an archaeological assessment of a building located in the historic downtown of the city of Córdoba, Argentina. People have used these premises for residential and commercial purposes since the beginning of the seventeenth century, although the samples analyzed correspond to nineteenth-century contexts. Light microscopy examination revealed the presence of parasite eggs of whipworm (Trichuris sp.), possibly roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), and tapeworm (taeniid). The presence of these fecal-oral and food-borne transmitted helminths supports other lines of evidence that indicate poor sanitation and hygiene habits and inadequate food processing, which may have contributed to the high incidence and mortality of gastrointestinal diseases recorded at that time. The paleoparasitological data agree with the historical information on the health status of the populations that inhabited the city of Córdoba in the past, especially in relation to their habits and diet.

The aim of the present study was to examine the parasite fauna present in mountain viscacha Lagidium viscacia (Caviomorpha, Chinchillidae) fecal pellets collected from ‘Cueva Peligro’, a cave located in Chubut province, Patagonia, Argentina, throughout the last 1200 years. A total of 84 samples were examined for parasites. Each pellet was whole processed: rehydrated, homogenized, sediment and examined using light microscopy. The samples and eggs of parasites present were described, measured and photographed. Thirty-eight samples tested positive for the nematodes Heteroxynema (Cavioxyura) viscaciae Sutton & Hugot, 1989, Helminthoxys effilatus Schuurmans-Stekhoven, 1951 (Oxyurida: Oxyuridae), Trichuris sp. Roederer, 1761 (Trichinellida: Trichuridae) and one anoplocephalid species (Cestoda: Anoplocephalidae). This is the first time that H. effilatus is reported from ancient times. Significant differences of parasite occurrences through this temporal period were recorded. Parasitic life cycles and their presence along the studied period are so discussed.

DNA barcoding is now a common tool in parasitology and epidemiology, which require good methods for identification not only of parasites and pathogens but vectors and reservoirs. This special issue presents some advances and challenges in barcoding of microbes, parasites, and their vectors and reservoirs. DNA barcoding found new applications in disease ecology, conservation parasitology, environmental parasitology and in paleoparasitology. New technologies such as next-generation sequencing and matrix-assisted laser desorption–ionization time-of-flight have made it now possible to investigate large samples of specimens. By allowing the investigation of parasites at the interface between environment, biodiversity, animal and human health, barcoding and biobanking have important policy outcomes as well as ethics and legal implications. The special issue ‘Advances and challenges in the barcoding of parasites, vectors and reservoirs’ illustrates some recent advances and proposes new avenues for research in barcoding in parasitology.

Paleoparasitological examination provides information of parasite–host associations in the past, shedding light on the geographical origin of some parasites, on the possible dispersal routes and on some of the processes that modelled the parasitic communities. The aim of the present study was to examine parasite remains present in camelid coprolites collected from the archaeological site Alero Destacamento Guardaparque, Patagonia and to discuss the paleoparasitological findings in a biogeographical and paleoecological context. Coprolites were collected from different stratified layers dating from middle to late Holocene, a period covering approximately 7000 years. Paleoparasitological examination revealed the presence of eggs attributed to Lamanema chavezi or Nematodirus lamae, Nematodirus spathiger, Dictyocaulus sp., eggs of two unidentified capillariids, Strongylus-type eggs and oocysts of Eimeria macusaniensis. Enteric parasites of camelids had not changed significantly during the Holocene up to the entry of introduced livestock, although environmental conditions fluctuated greatly throughout this period, indicating the stability of these associations over time. This is the first finding of N. spathiger and Dictyocaulus sp. in paleoparasitological record and their presence are associated with the interaction of camelids with introduced livestock, which likely allowed parasite host switching. In the present study, the zoonotic importance of parasites of camelids is also discussed.