Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Department of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnostics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
J Vet Sci. 2024 Nov;25(6):e81. doi: 10.4142/jvs.24098.
Rodents, particularly those inhabiting urban areas, are sources of infections that cause major human diseases. The number of recorded zoonotic infections has increased in recent decades, exacerbating public concerns. Zoonotic diseases in humans, such as capillariasis, hymenolepiasis, and toxoplasmosis, are life-threatening in severe cases, particularly in immunocompromised individuals. A thorough understanding of pathogens, particularly the parasites infecting rodents, is critical for predicting future zoonotic disease outbreaks and developing effective mitigation strategies. This review summarizes the information on parasites in rodents inhabiting Malaysia to identify the knowledge gaps that could serve as a foundation for future research.
Thirty-eight previous parasite studies in rodents conducted in Malaysia were reviewed, and 44 ectoparasites species and 58 endoparasites species across 19 rodent species were revealed. Six ectoparasite and eight endoparasite species were identified as zoonotic among these parasites. Morphological identification of parasite species typically succeeded only at the genus level because of their identical morphological characteristics. However, these studies used a molecular approach to identify parasites at the species level using species-specific primers. The pathological findings of various organs of infected rodents were also summarized, including gross and histological lesions exhibited by parasites.
This review highlights the list of parasites infecting rodents in Malaysia, provides information on the molecular and pathological findings from previous studies, and identifies some of the limitations and knowledge gaps that suggest future research to address the issues, including the paucity of information on blood parasites, molecular, and histopathological studies of parasites in rodents.
啮齿动物，特别是那些居住在城市地区的啮齿动物，是导致人类重大疾病的感染源。近几十年来，记录的人畜共患病感染数量有所增加，这加剧了公众的担忧。人类的人畜共患病，如毛细线虫病、细粒棘球蚴病和弓形体病，在严重情况下是危及生命的，特别是在免疫功能低下的个体中。彻底了解病原体，特别是感染啮齿动物的寄生虫，对于预测未来的人畜共患病爆发和制定有效的缓解策略至关重要。本综述总结了马来西亚栖息的啮齿动物寄生虫的信息，以确定可能作为未来研究基础的知识空白。
回顾了在马来西亚进行的 38 项以前的啮齿动物寄生虫研究，共发现 19 种啮齿动物中的 44 种外寄生虫物种和 58 种内寄生虫物种。在这些寄生虫中，有 6 种外寄生虫和 8 种内寄生虫被确定为人畜共患寄生虫。由于寄生虫具有相同的形态特征，形态学鉴定通常只能在属的水平上成功识别寄生虫的种类。然而，这些研究使用了分子方法，使用物种特异性引物在种的水平上识别寄生虫。还总结了受感染啮齿动物各种器官的病理发现，包括寄生虫引起的大体和组织学病变。
本综述强调了马来西亚感染啮齿动物的寄生虫清单，提供了以前研究的分子和病理学发现的信息，并确定了一些限制和知识空白，表明未来的研究需要解决这些问题，包括血液寄生虫信息不足、啮齿动物寄生虫的分子和组织病理学研究。
