Prevalence and diversity of gastrointestinal helminths in free-ranging Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus) in Bangladesh

Vet World Vol.11 April-2018 Article-22

Research Article

Veterinary World, 11(4): 549-556

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2018.549-556

Mizanur Rahman¹, Shariful Islam^2,3, Md. Masuduzzaman¹, Mahabub Alam⁴, Mohammad Nizam Uddin Chawdhury⁵, Jinnat Ferdous^2,3, Md. Nurul Islam³, Mohammad Mahmudul Hassan⁶, Mohammad Alamgir Hossain¹, and Ariful Islam²

1. Department of Pathology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chittagong-4225, Bangladesh.
2. EcoHealth Alliance, New York, USA.
3. Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), Mohakhali, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh.
4. Department of Animal Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chittagong-4225, Bangladesh.
5. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park, Gazipur-1741, Bangladesh.
6. Department of Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Khulshi, Chittagong 4225, Bangladesh.

Background and Aim: Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus), a widely distributed small mammal in the South Asian region, can carry helminths of zoonotic importance. The aim of the study was to know the prevalence and diversity of gastrointestinal (GI) helminths in free-ranging Asian house shrew (S. murinus) in Bangladesh.

Materials and Methods: A total of 86 Asian house shrews were captured from forest areas and other habitats of Bangladesh in 2015. Gross examination of the whole GI tract was performed for gross helminth detection, and coproscopy was done for identification of specific eggs or larvae.

Results: The overall prevalence of GI helminth was 77.9% (67/86), with six species including nematodes (3), cestodes (2), and trematodes (1). Of the detected helminths, the dominant parasitic group was from the genus Hymenolepis spp. (59%), followed by Strongyloides spp. (17%), Capillaria spp. (10%), Physaloptera spp. (3%), and Echinostoma spp. (3%).

Conclusion: The finding shows that the presence of potential zoonotic parasites (Hymenolepis spp. and Capillaria spp.) in Asian house shrew is ubiquitous in all types of habitat (forest land, cropland and dwelling) in Bangladesh. Therefore, further investigation is crucial to examine their role in the transmission of human helminthiasis. Keywords: Asian house shrew, Bangladesh, gastrointestinal helminths, prevalence, Suncus murinus.

Keywords: Asian house shrew, Bangladesh, gastrointestinal helminths, prevalence, Suncus murinus.

How to cite this article: Rahman M, Islam S, Masuduzzaman M, Alam M, Chawdhury MNU, Ferdous J, Islam MN, Hassan MM, Hossain MA, Islam A (2018) Prevalence and diversity of gastrointestinal helminths in free-ranging Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus) in Bangladesh, Veterinary World, 11(4): 549-556.

Received: 24-12-2017 Accepted: 26-03-2018 Published online: 30-04-2018

Corresponding author: Ariful Islam E-mail: arif@ecohealthalliance.org

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2018.549-556

Copyright: Rahman, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.