Prevalence of Ectoparasitic Infection of Rodents Captured near Student’s Hostels: Zoonotic Implications

Background and Aims: Rodents constitute more than 42% of the known mammalian species, with 1700 species which belongs to three different families, include Muridae, Microtidae, and Sigmodontidae. Rodents species such as R. r. diardii and R. norvegicus play an important role as hosts for ectoparasites and reservoirs for various types of viruses, bacteria, rickettsia, protozoa, and helminths which are responsible for causing zoonotic diseases to humans and other vertebrate animals. The aim of this work is to identify the species of mites, ticks, and fleas causing diseases to humans and determined the prevalence of infestation in relation to gender, age, and habitat of the rodents.

Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Malaysia, Between September 2018 and March 2019.

Methodology: Wild rats were captured using live traps from garbage areas, and places near the cafeteria in the student’s residential colleges at University Putra Malaysia. The rats were humanely euthanised and identified. They were classified as adult or juveniles. Their sex was also determined. Ectoparasites were collected by combing the fur the rodents on to a white plan sheet paper. The ectoparasites collected were washed and mounted with Hoyer’s media on a glass slide. Parasites were identified using a key morphological feature.

Results: A total of 89 wild rats were trapped and examined for ectoparasites. Eight different species of ectoparasites that comprised of L. echidnanus, L. nuttalli, O. bacoti, I. granulatus, Heamaphysalis sp., P. spinoluso, H. pacifica, X. cheopis) were identified from the rodents examined. About 55% of the rodents trapped were positive for at least one species of ectoparasite parasites, and about 45.8% of the male rats and 30.8% of female were positive for ectoparasites. Meanwhile, in the adult, 42.9% are positive for at least one species of ectoparasites, whereas 32.2% of the juvenile rodent was also found positive for at least one species of ectoparasites.

Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that rodents trapped from the student’s colleges in University Putra Malaysia are infected with various ectoparasites species that might play an important role in the transmission of certain zoonotic diseases to humans. Therefore, we conclude that there is potential risk of rodent-borne zoonotic diseases transmission to humans in the study area. Awareness of prevention and control of rodent-borne diseases should be introduced to educate the students on the importance of zoonotic diseases associated with rodents.