<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The aims of this research were: 1) to determine the helminth parasite fauna of seventy two Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769) individuals inhabiting poultry farms in the Pampean region of Argentina; 2) to examine the relationship between parasitism and individual characteristics of the hosts, and 3) to analyze the associations among helminths. The study was carried out in twenty-four poultry farms from autumn 2000 to winter 2001. Nematodes were found in the intestine or caecum rectum of the 74 % of rats and cestodes were found along all the intestine of the 28 % of rats. Heterakis spumosa (Travassos 1914) was a central species, whereas Syphacia muris, Yamaguti 1941, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (Travassos 1914) and Hymenolepis diminuta (Rudolphi 1819) were satellite species. Helminths do not affect rat survival and growth of rats. Rats parasitized with H. spumosa and H. diminuta were larger and older than non-parasitized rats. The intensity of infection with H. spumosa significantly increased with rat age. Rats parasitized with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and Syphacia muris did not differ in size and age with respect to non-parasitized ones. The mean intensity of infections per host was 33.74, 74.28, higher than 200, and 3.10 for H. spumosa, S. muris, N. brasiliensis and H. diminuta, respectively. The mean intensity of infection with H. spumosa was higher in summer than in the other seasons, while the higher mean intensity of infection with N. brasiliensis and S. muris occurred in autumn. Infections with Heterakis spumosa and Syphacia muris, and with Syphacia muris and Nippostrongylus brasiliensis were independent; while Heterakis spumosa and Nippostrongylus brasiliensis were negatively associated.</p></abstract>

The aims of this research were: 1) to determine the helminth parasite fauna of seventy two Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769) individuals inhabiting poultry farms in the Pampean region of Argentina; 2) to examine the relationship between parasitism and individual characteristics of the hosts, and 3) to analyze the associations among helminths. The study was carried out in twenty-four poultry farms from autumn 2000 to winter 2001. Nematodes were found in the intestine or caecum rectum of the 74 % of rats and cestodes were found along all the intestine of the 28 % of rats. Heterakis spumosa (Travassos 1914) was a central species, whereas Syphacia muris, Yamaguti 1941, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (Travassos 1914) and Hymenolepis diminuta (Rudolphi 1819) were satellite species. Helminths do not affect rat survival and growth of rats. Rats parasitized with H. spumosa and H. diminuta were larger and older than non-parasitized rats. The intensity of infection with H. spumosa significantly increased with rat age. Rats parasitized with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and Syphacia muris did not differ in size and age with respect to non-parasitized ones. The mean intensity of infections per host was 33.74, 74.28, higher than 200, and 3.10 for H. spumosa, S. muris, N. brasiliensis and H. diminuta, respectively. The mean intensity of infection with H. spumosa was higher in summer than in the other seasons, while the higher mean intensity of infection with N. brasiliensis and S. muris occurred in autumn. Infections with Heterakis spumosa and Syphacia muris, and with Syphacia muris and Nippostrongylus brasiliensis were independent; while Heterakis spumosa and Nippostrongylus brasiliensis were negatively associated.

Helminth communities and host-parasite relationships in argentine brown rat (Rattus norvegicus)

Laboratorio de Ecología de Poblaciones. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnicas, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores CEPAVE (CCT-CONICET-La Plata) (UNLP), Calle 2 N° 584, 1900 La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Helminthologia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The aims of this research were: 1) to determine the helminth parasite fauna of seventy two Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769) individuals inhabiting poultry...

Helminth communities and host-parasite relationships in argentine brown rat (Rattus norvegicus)

Publié en ligne: 06 nov. 2008

Pages: 126 - 129

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11687-008-0024-1

Mots clés
helminths, Heterakis spumosa, Hymenolepis diminuta, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, Rattus norvegicus, Syphacia muris

© 2008 Institute of Parasitology, SAS, Košice, Slovakia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Helminth communities and host-parasite relationships in argentine brown rat (Rattus norvegicus)

Publié en ligne: 06 nov. 2008

Pages: 126 - 129

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11687-008-0024-1

Mots cléshelminths, Heterakis spumosa, Hymenolepis diminuta, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, Rattus norvegicus, Syphacia muris

© 2008 Institute of Parasitology, SAS, Košice, Slovakia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Mots clés
helminths, Heterakis spumosa, Hymenolepis diminuta, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, Rattus norvegicus, Syphacia muris