Helminth communities from two urban rat populations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract

BackgroundThe prevalence of parasitic infections among commensal animals such as black and brown rats in many tropical countries is high and in comparison with studies on rodents in temperate climates, little is known about the community structure of their parasites. Rodent borne parasites pose threats to human health since people living in close proximity to rodent populations can be exposed to infection.MethodsThe helminth community structures of two urban rat populations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were investigated. The rats were from two contrasting sites in the city caught over a period of 21 months in 2000-2002.ResultsEleven species of helminth parasites comprising seven nematodes (Heterakis spumosum, Mastophorus muris, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, Syphacia muris, Pterygodermatites tani/whartoni, Gongylonema neoplasticum, Angiostrongylus malaysiensis), three cestodes (Hymenolepis (Rodentolepis) nana, H. diminuta and Taenia taeniaeformis) and one acanthocephalan (Moniliformis moniliformis) were recovered from 346 Rattus rattus and 104 R. norvegicus from two urban sites, Bangsar and Chow Kit, during 2000-2002. Rattus rattus harboured over 60% of all helminths compared with R. norvegicus, although both host species played a dominant role in the different sites with, for example R. norvegicus at Bangsar and R. rattus at Chow Kit accounting for most of the nematodes. Overall 80% of rats carried at least one species of helminth, with the highest prevalences being shown by H. diminuta (35%), H. spumosum (29.8%) and H. nana (28.4%). Nevertheless, there were marked differences in prevalence rates between sites and hosts. The influence of extrinsic (year, season and site) and intrinsic (species, sex and age) factors affecting infracommunity structure (abundance and prevalence of infection) and measures of component community structure were analyzed.ConclusionsSince at least two species of rat borne helminths in Kuala Lumpur have the potential to infect humans, and these showed high prevalences in the rats, the assessment and regular monitoring of infections carried by wild rodents have important roles to play in public health.

Helminths in rodents from Wet Markets in Thailand

“…Thus, both species are likely to be found in cities in SEA. The aforementioned studies of SEA markets (Claveria et al, 2005) (Paramasvaran et al, 2009;Tung et al, 2013), as well as in urban habitats (Mohd Zain et al, 2012), report the presence of the same zoonotic helminths as recovered in the present study (see details in Table 1). According to the review by Chaisiri et al (2015), four of our recovered helminths (H. diminuta, H. nana, Raillietina sp.…”

“…Aside from these three surveys, no other information was found despite an extensive literature review (Veciana, 2016). Also of interest is the study by Mohd Zain et al (2012) of R. norvegicus and R. rattus Linnaeus, 1758 (probably Rattus sp. according Pagès et al (2010)) in Kuala Lampur; how ever in this latter study collection sites were not characterized.…”

Isolation and Molecular Characterization of Leptospira interrogans and Leptospira borgpetersenii Isolates from the Urban Rat Populations of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

“…26 Urbanization of cities and towns has created favorable conditions for commensal rats to live, because these rats often depend on direct contact with human food. The two species are closely related, and formerly, R. norvegicus was classed as a subspecies of R. rattus.…”

Helmintofauna Gastrointestinal de Importancia Zoonótica y sus Aspectos Patológicos en Roedores (Rattus spp) en Tres Medioambientes

“…Estos valores pueden estar relacionados con el tipo de hábitat de estas especies, pues R. rattus se asocia típicamente con la presencia de basura, bodegas y alimentos de restaurante, ampliamente disponibles en los mercados (Mohd et al, 2012). Además, al ser buenas trepadoras tienden a vivir en lugares más elevados, facilitándose su dispersión a través de los cables y falsos techos de los mercados (Jarbas et al, 2002).…”