of birds in pet markets in Wuhan city, Hubei, China.

is a group of protistan parasites of a range of vertebrates including mammals and birds. Stimulated by previous work that revealed "zoonotic" subtypes (i.e. IIIbA26G1R1b and IIIbA22G1R1c) in diarrhoeic children and domestic chickens in Wuhan city and environs in Hubei Province, China, here we explored whether zoonotic subtypes might also occur in pet birds in Wuhan city. From 11 bird markets in this city, we collected 322 faecal samples from 48 species of birds (representing six taxonomic orders), isolated genomic DNA and then conducted PCR-based sequencing of genetic markers in the small subunit () of the nuclear ribosomal RNA and the 60 kDa glycoprotein () genes of . Using , was detected in 55 (17%) of the 322 samples. , , , and were characterised in 18%, 47%, 11%, 2% and 20% of the 55 samples, respectively, and a novel -like taxon in one sample Using , only one subtype (IIIeA17G2R1) of was identified, which had not been detected in a previous study of diarrhoeic children in Wuhan. However, IIIe subtypes have been found in both humans and birds around the world. The relatively high prevalence and genetic diversity of recorded here in pet birds raise awareness about possible reservoirs of zoonotic variants of in birds in Wuhan, and potentially, other provinces in China.