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• Main Authors: Onyenwe Ifediora Walter, John Ikechukwu, Ezeme Rita Ifeoma
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Prevalence; Zoonotic helminths; Capillaria hepatica; Hymenolepis spp; Trichinella spiralis; Rattus rattus INTRODUC; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.403.6211; http://www.zoo-unn.org/ARI vols/vol6/vol6-3/Onyenwe.pdf

The occurrence o f zoonot ic helminths in house rats (Rattus rattus) constitute serious public health risks as these rats commonly cohabit with humans, and are known to be natural reservoirs of some helminth infections of public health importance. This study surveyed the prevalence of the three major zoonotic helminths (Capillaria hepatica, Hymenolepis spp and Trichinella spiralis) in house rats in Nsukka, Eastern Nigeria. A total of 103 house rats were trapped and screened for the three zoonotic helminths. Whole liver of each R. rattus was sectioned into small bits and examined for the presence of C. hepatica nodules/granuloma, while faecal samples collected from the rectum of the trapped rats were screened for worm eggs by the simple floatation technique, and diaphragmatic muscle sections were examined microscopically for the presence of T. spiralis larvae. Results showed that out of the 103 rats screened, 5.8 % were infected with C. hepatica, 19.5% with Hymenolepis spp, and none (0%) with T. spiralis. The prevalence of C. hepatica in relation to sex and age of the rats was found to be 2. 9 % for mal es, 7.4 % for females, 0 % for young rats and 7.8 % for adult rats, while that o f Hymenolepis spp in relation to sex and age of R. rattus was 20%