Preliminary Study on Ecto and Endoparasites of the Black Rats (Rattus Rattus) in Benghazi City

Abstract

Forty-five adult trapped black rats (Rattus rattus), 24 males and 21 females, were dissected and examined in this study for ecto and endoparasites. Three ectoparasites were detected, namely, the flea (Xenopsallya cheopis), mites (Ornithonyssus bacoti), and tick (Ixodes spp) with 48.9%, 13.3%, and 2.2% respectively. Meanwhile, many species of endoparasites were: Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (73.3%), Entamoeba coli (31.3%), Blastocystis hominus (8.9%), Giardia lamblia (15.6), Chilomastix sp. (4.4%), a coccidia sp. (13.3%), Hymenolips nana (2.2%), Hymenolips diminuta (44.4%), and Taenia taeniaformis (6.7%), and Moniliformis moniliformis (2.2%). Of all examined rats, 97.8 % (44/45) were found to harbor at least one parasite species with no significant differences between body weight, body length, and gender of the host with the prevalence of parasite species. Multiple infections occurred at six species per rat with different combinations of parasite infections. These results are the first records of the parasitic fauna of R. rattus in the Benghazi area.