{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,8]],"date-time":"2026-08-08T04:43:07Z","timestamp":1786164187212,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]],"date-time":"2026-08-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785974400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Open Project of NHC Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology","award":["NHCKFKT2022-06"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NHCKFKT2022-06"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100017950","name":"Shanghai Municipal Health Commission","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["20234Y0232"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20234Y0232"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100017950","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In the context of the current low endemicity of schistosomiasis in China, Schistosoma japonicum (S. japonicum) infections increasingly have been reported in field-captured rodents, highlighting the need for rapid and scalable tools to support surveillance during the elimination stage. This study developed and evaluated a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay targeting a highly repetitive S. japonicum sequence for detecting infection in liver tissues. Analytical performance was assessed using adult-worm genomic DNA, DNA from non-target pathogens, egg-spiked mouse liver samples, experimentally infected BALB\/c mice, and liver samples from field-captured rodents collected in Dongzhi and Duchang counties. The optimized assay generated a single melting peak at 79 \u00b1 0.5 \u00b0C, used Ct &lt; 33 as the positivity cutoff, and showed no apparent cross-reactivity with the non-target pathogens tested. Using serially diluted adult-worm genomic DNA, the assay consistently detected S. japonicum DNA at concentrations as low as 1 pg\/\u03bcL. In the egg-spiked liver model, as few as two eggs were detected in 200 mg of liver tissue. In the experimentally infected model, all infected mice tested positive, whereas all non-infected controls tested negative, indicating complete agreement between the qPCR results and the experimentally defined infection status. In the field evaluation, qPCR yielded a higher positivity rate than parasitological examination in Dongzhi County (66.81% vs. 51.72%) and identified six positive samples in Duchang County, where all samples were negative by parasitological examination. These findings indicate that the qPCR assay can facilitate sensitive and high-throughput detection of S. japonicum infection in field-captured rodents and may provide a useful complementary tool for surveillance during schistosomiasis elimination.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens15080825","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]],"date-time":"2026-08-06T09:46:38Z","timestamp":1786009598000},"page":"825","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Development of a Novel Quantitative PCR Assay for Detecting Schistosoma japonicum in Field-Captured Rodents"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4087-4672","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chao","family":"Lv","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases; National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Chinese Center for Tropical Diseases Research); National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology; WHO Collaborating Centre for Tropical Diseases; National Center for International Research on Tropical Diseases, Ministry of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200025, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiqin","family":"Jia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200025, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-7883-6808","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xiaojuan","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Anhui Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hefei 230601, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shizhen","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases; National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Chinese Center for Tropical Diseases Research); National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology; WHO Collaborating Centre for Tropical Diseases; National Center for International Research on Tropical Diseases, Ministry of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200025, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qi","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Wei Hai, Weihai 264200, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4620-2025","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jing","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases; National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Chinese Center for Tropical Diseases Research); National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology; WHO Collaborating Centre for Tropical Diseases; National Center for International Research on Tropical Diseases, Ministry of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200025, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lijun","family":"Lin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Basic Medicine and Forensic Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou 311300, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qunxiu","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Health and Social Care, Shanghai Urban Construction Vocational College, Shanghai 201415, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yang","family":"Hong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases; National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Chinese Center for Tropical Diseases Research); National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology; WHO Collaborating Centre for Tropical Diseases; National Center for International Research on Tropical Diseases, Ministry of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200025, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"658","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(24)02814-9","article-title":"Human Schistosomiasis","volume":"405","author":"Buonfrate","year":"2025","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13","DOI":"10.1038\/s41572-018-0013-8","article-title":"Schistosomiasis","volume":"4","author":"McManus","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat. 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