Histopathological features and prevalence of infection in spp. in Philippine Mount Makiling forest reserve and its adjacent areas.

Rats are recognized as reservoir hosts of several pathogens that pose a threat to human health. Although rats are reported to be hosts of a large number of pathogens, a survey of carried by rats in various settings such as residential, agroforestry, and agricultural areas in the Philippines has not been conducted. A total of 90 rats composed of , , and were collected through trapping in selected residential, agroforestry, and agricultural areas in Los Baños Laguna, Philippines. The overall prevalence of among rats was 21.11%. Among the rat species collected, showed the highest prevalence (55.56%), followed by (14.29%), then (5.36%) (differences significant at  < 0.05). Moreover, residential areas had the highest prevalence of infection (50%), followed by agroforestry and agricultural areas at 6.7% each (significant at  < 0.05). However, the difference in infection between male (11.43%; 4/35) and female (27.27%; 15/55) rats was not significant ( > 0.05). Most of the infected rats were moderately infected (68.42%), while few were lightly and severely infected (15.78% each). Lastly, the presence of in liver is suggestive of presence of lymphocytes, amyloid, granuloma, and the occurrence of necrosis, hypertrophy, fibrosis, and cholestasis in the liver of the host. Capillariasis could be occurring in Philippine human populations, hence there is need for screening the population with appropriate means and to create awareness of this emerging disease.