A survey of parasitic infections in wild rats from urban areas in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Wild rats are known as amajor reservoir and intermediate host for several pathogenic microbial species. Thus, the Veterinary Research Institute (VRI) conducted a survey to determine the presence of parasitic pathogens in local rats, such as blood protozoans, gastrointestinal parasites, as well as ectoparasites such as mites and lice. The study was conducted with the collaboration of Kuala Lumpur City Council Pest Control Unit, whereby a total of 105 wild rats were trapped at two urban areas of Kuala Lumpurnamely PasarPudu and Chow Kit. Autopsy was done on the rats to acquire the skin, organ and blood samples.. The skin scrapping was performed on skin samples to identify the common species of mites and lice, while the floatation technique was conducted on faecal samples to identify helminth eggs. Results showed thatspecies of Tritrichomonas, Strongyloides, Nippostrongylus, Blastocystis, Rodento lepis , Cocc idia , Tr ichur is , CapillariaandAscaridwerefound in the faeces while Trypanosoma sp.was found in the blood samples taken from the animals.Taeniataeniformis was obtained from liver samples while theectoparasites found on sk in we re ident i f i ed asRadfordia,Polyplax,Linognathusand Hoploplurasp. Control and eradication of rodent pests is crucial in combating emerging and re-emerging diseases which may be zoonotic as rodents are reservoirs to various pathogens