Studies on the Nematode Parasites of Malaysian Rodents. I. The Rhabdiasidea, Trichuridea and Oxyuridea

Abstract

Rodents, particularly those belonging to the family Muridae, form the largest group of mammals in Malaysia. They are also a group that has been well studied because of their medical and economic importance. Yet, comparatively little is known, in Malaysia, about the helminths that are associated with them; far less the types of terrain in which these are prevalent. An attempt is now made to survey the nematodes parasitic in these rodents, with a view to assessing the potential risk from those that are harmful to man and domestic animals, and to studying those that are harmless, but nevertheless form an enlightening contribution to the knowledge of Malaysian parasitic fauna.

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

“…As in many other cities around the globe, in Kuala Lumpur, R. rattus and R. norvegicus are the two dominant species of rats living commensally with people, but other species are also occasionally reported in Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding region, although seldom in high numbers [ 17 , 21 , 28 ]. The two species are closely related, with similar karyotypes [ 47 ] and R. norvegicus was formerly classed as a subspecies of R. rattus [ 48 ].…”

Intestinal helminths of spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus dimidiatus) from St Katherine's Protectorate in the Sinai, Egypt

“…The ecology, and particularly the component community structure, of helminth parasites in small rodent populations has been well documented in temperate regions of Europe (Kisielewska, 1970;Haukisalmi et al, 1988;Montgomery & Montgomery, 1990;Abu-Madi et al, 1998) and northern America (Murphy, 1952;Grundman, 1957;Boggs et al, 1991). In contrast, and despite the wealth of information on species lists and taxonomy (Myers et al, 1962), there is little comparable data for rodents living in the tropics (Ow-Yang, 1971). In particular, ecological studies on the parasites of rodents inhabiting hostile, arid regions in the Middle East and Africa are scarce (Greenberg, 1969;Erhardova-Kotrla & Daniel, 1970;Wertheim & Greenberg, 1970) and little is known about the relative importance of factors responsible for variation in the helminth infracommunity structures of small rodents inhabiting these regions.…”

Redescription of <i>Subulura</i> (<i>Murisubulura</i>) <i>andersoni</i> (Cobbold, 1876) (Nematoda: Subuluridae) from <i>Bunomys</i> spp. (Rodentia: Muridae) of Sulawesi, Indonesia, with special reference to <i>S</i>. (<i>M</i>.) <i>suzukii</i> and other related species in the adjacent areas

“…As a murid helminth, S. ( M. ) andersoni was first demonstrated in Rattus norvegicus (recorded as Mus decumanus ) of India [ 6 ]. This nematode was then recorded from Leopoldamys siporanus (as Rattus sabanus ) and Niviventer fulvescens (as Rattus fulvescens ), Berylmys bowersi (as Rattus bowersi ) and Niviventer cremoriventer (as Rattus cremoriventer ) of Peninsular Malaysia [ 10 , 23 ]. In Indonesia, this nematode was first recorded from M. bartelsii (as Rattus bartelsii ) in Java [ 26 ].…”

“…Subulura ( Murisubulura ) andersoni (Cobbold, 1876) (Nematoda: Subuluridae) is widely distributed in the areas ranging from India to Australia [ 2 , 3 , 8 , 10 , 17 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Although it was first described from a sciurid in India [ 2 ], this nematode is known as a common parasite of murine rodents in Indonesia [ 3 ].…”