Detection of Trypanosoma lewisi from wild rats in Southern China and its genetic diversity based on the ITS1 and ITS2 sequences

► Methods for diagnosis of Trypanosoma lewisi from wild rats from China were compared. ► First report for the LAMP method was used to detect T. lewisi from wild rats. ► Published prevalent results on T. lewisi might be severely underestimated. ► Phylogenetic trees of subgenus Herpetosoma were constructed based on ITS sequences.