Intestinal Helminthic Infections in Striped Field Mice,Apodemus agrarius, from Two Southern Regions of Korea

Abstract

The present study was performed to know the infection status of intestinal helminths in a most common species of field mice, Apodemus agrarius, from 2 southern regions of Korea. Total 133 and 103 mice were collected by the mouse trap in Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do and Gurye-gun, Jeollanam-do, respectively, from July 2005 to June 2006. The small intestine of each mouse was resected and longitudinally opened with a pair of scissors. The intestinal contents were washed with 0.85% saline until the supernatant became clear. Helminths were collected with naked eyes or under a stereomicroscope from the sediment of the intestinal content. More than 11 species of helminths (4 nematode spp., 5 trematode spp., and 2 cestode spp.) were recovered. Among these, heligmosomoid nematodes (97.5%) was the most highly and heavily infected species. As the members of trematodes, Plagiorchis muris, Brachylaima sp., Echinostoma hortense, Echinostoma cinetorchis, and unidentified echinostome larvae were found in the small intestines of 35 (14.8%), 12 (5.1%), 6 (2.5%), 1 (0.4%), and 1 (0.4%) mice respectively. Two species of tapeworms, Hymenolepis nana and Hymenolepis diminuta were also detected in 79 (33.5%) and 21 (8.9%) mice, respectively. Conclusively, heligmosomoid nematodes were the most prevalent (dominant) species among more than 11 helminth species detected, and Brachylaima sp. fluke is newly added in the list of intestinal trematodes in Korea.

Intestinal Nematodes from Small Mammals Captured near the Demilitarized Zone, Gyeonggi Province, Republic of Korea

“…In our study, the prevalence of N. brasiliensis ranged from 0% ( M. regulus ) to 70.9% ( A. agrarius ) (overall mean, 62.1%), depending on the species of rodent or soricomorph. This figure is quite different from previous studies performed in Korea [ 13 - 15 ]. Seo et al [ 13 ] and Yong et al [ 14 ] detected high prevalences of Nippostrongylus muris but not N. brasiliensis among rodents from northern and northern/western parts of Korea, respectively.…”

“…Seo et al [ 13 ] and Yong et al [ 14 ] detected high prevalences of Nippostrongylus muris but not N. brasiliensis among rodents from northern and northern/western parts of Korea, respectively. On the other hand, Sohn et al [ 15 ] detected neither N. muris nor N. brasiliensis in A. agrarius mice from a southern area of Korea. The reason for this discrepancy remains to be investigated.…”

“…The prevalence of H. polygyrus in our study (42.3%) was lower than that in Portugal [ 16 ]. Heligmosomum sp., Heligmosomoides sp., and heligmosomid nematodes were reported from rodents in ROK [ 13 , 15 ]. Their prevalence was extremely high in rodents of southern parts of ROK (Hapcheon-gun and Gurye-gun), over 97% [ 15 ]; however, it was comparatively lower in rodents of northern parts (Gyeonggi and Gangwon Province), 28-30% [ 13 ].…”

Infections of Two Isthmiophora Species (Digenea: Echinostomatidae) in Wild Mammals from Republic of Korea with Their Morphological Descriptions

“…It is our understanding that the host list includes 11 animals belong to 6 families as follows: Canidae (Canis lupus and N. procyonoides), Felidae (F. catus), Ochotonidae (Ochotona dauurica), Muridae (A. agrarius, R. norvegicus, R. rattus, fortisM. pellceus, M. musculus), Mustelidae (M. itatsi), Procyonidae (P. lotor) and Suidae (S. scrofa) in Korea, China, Japan, Vietnam and the Russian Far East [12,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]29]. However, only one species of mustelid, the Japanese weasel M. itatsi, has been reported as a host of I. hortensis [13].…”

“…Freshwater snails of the family Lymnaeidae Rafinesque, 1815 are known to serve as first intermediate hosts [2][3][4], while freshwater fishes and frogs have been reported as second intermediate hosts [3,[5][6][7][8][9][10]. Addition-ally, a wide range of small mammals are known as respective definitive hosts, such as the rat (reported in Japan by Asada, 1926) [21], black-striped field mouse Apodemus agrarius (Pallas), Manchurian reed vole Microtus fortis pelliceus Thomas, domestic mouse Mus musculus L., brown rat Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout), black rat R. rattus L., Daurian pika Ochotona dauurica (Pallas), domestc dog Canis lupus familiaris L., domestic cat Felis catus L., Japanese weasel Mustela itatsi Temminck (= Lutreola itatsi itatsi) and raccoon Procyon lotor L. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. Recently, Sohn et al reported two additional species, namely, the raccoon dog Nyctereutes procyonoides (Gray) and wild boar Sus scrofa L., to the list of known definitive hosts of I. hortensis [23].…”