A systematic review and meta-analysis on the global prevalence and subtypes distribution of Blastocystis sp. infection in cattle: A zoonotic concern

•To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic review and meta-analysis showing a general overview of the Blastocystis infection prevalence and distribution of its related subtypes in cattle, globally.•Results of 28 studies (29 datasets) on cattle showed a 24.4 % (95 % CI: 16.9–33.9 %) prevalence for Blastocystis infection.•So far, 16 out of 26 reported subtypes (STs) were isolated from cattle, with ST10 as the highest-reported (32.3 %) as well as ST24 and ST25 as the lowest-reported STs (1.4 %).•A Among nine well-known zoonotic STs (ST1-ST8 and ST12), all STs except for ST8 were reported from cattle worldwide, demonstrating this animal species as a potential reservoir for human and other domestic animal infections.