Helminths are parasites that cause disease at considerable cost to public health and present a risk for emergence as novel human infections. Although recent research has elucidated characteristics conferring a propensity to emergence in other parasite groups (e.g. viruses), the understanding of factors associated with zoonotic potential in helminths remains poor. We applied an investigator-directed learning algorithm to a global dataset of mammal helminth traits to identify factors contributing to spillover of helminths from wild animal hosts into humans. We characterized parasite traits that distinguish between zoonotic and non-zoonotic species with 91% accuracy. Results suggest that helminth traits relating to transmission (e.g. definitive and intermediate hosts) and geography (e.g. distribution) are more important to discriminating zoonotic from non-zoonotic species than morphological or epidemiological traits. Whether or not a helminth causes infection in companion animals (cats and dogs) is the most important predictor of propensity to cause human infection. Finally, we identified helminth species with high modelled propensity to cause zoonosis (over 70%) that have not previously been considered to be of risk. This work highlights the importance of prioritizing studies on the transmission of helminths that infect pets and points to the risks incurred by close associations with these animals.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Infectious disease macroecology: parasite diversity and dynamics across the globe’.

蠕虫是一种寄生虫，会引起疾病，给公众健康造成巨大损失，并存在作为新型人类感染出现的风险。尽管最近的研究已经阐明了其他寄生虫群体（例如病毒）中出现的倾向性特征，但对蠕虫中与人畜共患潜力相关的因素的了解仍然很少。我们将研究者指导的学习算法应用于哺乳动物蠕虫特征的全球数据集，以识别导致蠕虫从野生动物宿主传播到人类的因素。我们对区分人畜共患病和非人畜共患物种的寄生虫特征进行了表征，准确率高达 91%。结果表明，蠕虫特征与传播（例如最终宿主和中间宿主）和地理（例如 分布）对于区分人畜共患与非人畜共患物种比形态或流行病学特征更重要。蠕虫是否会导致伴侣动物（猫和狗）感染是导致人类感染倾向的最重要预测因素。最后，我们确定了具有高模型倾向导致人畜共患疾病（超过 70%）的蠕虫物种，而此前这些蠕虫物种并未被认为具有风险。这项工作强调了优先研究感染宠物的蠕虫传播的重要性，并指出了与这些动物密切接触所带来的风险。我们确定了具有高模型倾向的导致人畜共患病（超过 70%）的蠕虫物种，而此前这些蠕虫物种并未被认为具有风险。这项工作强调了优先研究感染宠物的蠕虫传播的重要性，并指出了与这些动物密切接触所带来的风险。我们确定了具有高模型倾向的导致人畜共患病（超过 70%）的蠕虫物种，而此前这些蠕虫物种并未被认为具有风险。这项工作强调了优先研究感染宠物的蠕虫传播的重要性，并指出了与这些动物密切接触所带来的风险。

本文是“传染病宏观生态学：全球寄生虫多样性和动态”主题的一部分。