Prevalence of Hymenolepis spp. in House Mice in Baghdad City, Iraq

The prevalence of house mice (Mus musculus) Hymenolepiasis was determined in Baghdad, Iraq to study the effects of location, sex, and months on the infection rate of Hymenolepis spp. in house mice. Fifty house mice were captured from Abu Ghraib and Al-Ameriya, Baghdad, Iraq and examined for detecting parasites in laboratory in College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Baghdad. The total infection prevalence of intestinal parasites was 11 (22%) out of 50 samples, the higher prevalence was 28.57% and found in Abu Ghraib area, while lower was (13.63%) and recorded in Al-Ameriya area. The study revealed that the house mice were infected with two species of Hymenolepis: Hymenolepis nana 4 (8%) and Hymenolepis diminuta 7(14%). The intestinal parasites revealed a significance prevalence value (P<0.05). There was statistical difference in between males and females in parasites infection, in which the higher rate was 8 (27.58%) and recorded in males and the lower was 3 (14.28%) and observed in females. The monthly distribution of confirmed cases over a 9-month period revealed that reported cases of house mice and Hymenolepiasis increased significantly (P<0.01) in autumn (65.44%), followed by winter (15.38%), and summer (13.33%). The findings showed that house mice play an important role in the spread of zoonotic parasitic illnesses to people, as well as attention must pay to public health.

Zoonotic Gastrointestinal Helminths in Rodent Communities in Southern Guatemala

Rodents are reservoirs and hosts of several pathogens around the world, including zoonotic parasite species. This study aimed to determine the occurrence of zoonotic gastrointestinal helminths in rodents captured inside households in a rural community from southern Guatemala. Sixty-nine rodents were captured in 33% (49/148) of the surveyed households, including Rattus rattus, Rattus norvegicus, Mus musculus, and Sigmodon hispidus. Thirty-six percent (25/69) of these rodents (3 Rattus and 22 Mus musculus), from 45% (22/49) of the households, were parasitized with at least 1 gastrointestinal helminth species. Helminths from 6 species were identified: Hymenolepis diminuta, Moniliformis moniliformis, Heterakis spumosa, Nippostrongylus sp., Strongyloides sp., and Syphacia sp. Two zoonotic species were found in Rattus, H. diminuta in R. rattus (1/6), and M. moniliformis in R. norvegicus (1/1). Coinfection with other non-zoonotic helminth parasites, such as He. spumosa and Strongyloides sp., also was observed in the Rattus genus. Mus musculus had only non-zoonotic helminths: He. spumosa, Nippostrongylus sp., and Syphacia sp. being the most common, and He. spumosa (96%) followed by Nippostrongylus sp. (48%), with a higher presence in males than females, with a similar proportion in adult and young individuals. This is the first report of zoonotic and non-zoonotic helminths parasites in rodents from Guatemala.

Effect of urban habitat use on parasitism in mammals: a meta-analysis

Rates of urbanization are increasing globally, with consequences for the dynamics of parasites and their wildlife hosts. A small subset of mammal species have the dietary and behavioural flexibility to survive in urban settings. The changes that characterize urban ecology—including landscape transformation, modified diets and shifts in community composition—can either increase or decrease susceptibility and exposure to parasites. We used a meta-analytic approach to systematically assess differences in endoparasitism between mammals in urban and non-urban habitats. Parasite prevalence estimates in matched urban and non-urban mammal populations from 33 species were compiled from 46 published studies, and an overall effect of urban habitation on parasitism was derived after controlling for study and parasite genus. Parasite life cycle type and host order were investigated as moderators of the effect sizes. We found that parasites with complex life cycles were less prevalent in urban carnivore and primate populations than in non-urban populations. However, we found no difference in urban and non-urban prevalence for parasites in rodent and marsupial hosts, or differences in prevalence for parasites with simple life cycles in any host taxa. Our findings therefore suggest the disruption of some parasite transmission cycles in the urban ecological community.

Patterns of helminth infections in Rattus rattus and Mus musculus from two Mayan communities in Mexico

The black rat Rattus rattus and the house mouse Mus musculus are two commensal rodent species that harbour and shed zoonotic pathogens, including helminths. The aim of this survey was to study the helminth community and the patterns of infections in R. rattus and M. musculus from two Mayan communities in Mexico. Gastrointestinal helminths were isolated from 322 M. musculus and 124 R. rattus, including Gongylonema neoplasticum, Hassalstrongylus aduncus, Hassalstrongylus musculi, Hydatigera taeniaeformis metacestode, Hymenolepis diminuta, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, Oligacanthorhynchidae gen. sp., Syphacia muris, Syphacia obvelata, Rodentolepis microstoma and Trichuris muris. The overall richness of helminths was seven in R. rattus and six in M. musculus. The results of generalized linear models showed that juvenile rodents had lower probabilities of being infected with G. neoplasticum, H. taeniaeformis and H. musculi than adult rodents. A positive association between the prevalence of S. muris and rat abundance was found. The intensity of infection with S. muris was higher in the rainy season than in the dry season; the opposite result was found for H. musculi infection. Male R. rattus harboured more S. muris specimens. The intensity of infection with T. muris was inversely associated with mouse abundance. The presence of the zoonotic H. diminuta, as well as H. taeniaeformis and R. microstoma in rodent populations indicates that there is risk of transmission, and that their entire life cycle occurs in the study area.