Survey of helminth parasites of the gastrointestinal tract of the house rat, Rattus rattus in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

A survey of helminth parasites of the gastrointestinal tract of house rats, Rattus rattus, revealed that 41.46% (323) of the rats harboured helminth parasites. The parasites found belonged to the Phylum Cestoda and Acanthocephala. The Acanthocephala (represented by Moniliformis sp) were most dominant accounting for 92.59% of the total parasite recovered, while Hymenolepis sp of the Phylum Cestoda accounted for 7.41%. The number of Moniliformis sp. recovered per rat (i.e intensity of infection) varied between 1 and 28. There was no relationship between the intensity of infection and host size. However, a degree of relationship existed between the size of the rat, presence of parasites and the size the parasite attained in the rat. It was observed that the parasites found in these rats could be transmitted to man (either through the excrement of these rats or the intermediate hosts of these parasites), thus causing human zoonoses, which is a major public health problem.