Volume 7 No. 1 January 2016 • pages 21-23 Malaysian Journal of Veterinary Research
RE# MJVR – 0004-2015
SHORT COMMUNICATION
TAENIA TAENIAEFORMIS IN WILD RATS
PREMAALATHA B.1, CHANDRAWATHANI P.1*, TA N P.S. 2, THARSHINI J.3, JAMNAH O.1, RAMLAN M.1 AND NOR IKHMAL S.4 1 Veterinary Research Institute, 59 Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, 31400 Ipoh, Perak 2 School of Marine Science and Environment, University Malaysia Terengganu, Terengganu 3 Department of Agro Technology and Bio-Industry, Nilai Polytechnic, Negeri Sembilan 4 School of Science, Monash University Malaysia Campus, Malaysia * Corresponding author: [email protected]
SUMMARY. Taenia taeniaeformis is having a length of 60 cm. This parasitic a parasitic tapeworm that is commonly tapeworm is normally found in the small found in cats. The intermediate hosts for intestine of cats, specifically in the region this parasite include mice, rats and other of the duodenum (Combes, 2001). The rodents. Cats can be infected by the taeniae scolex; which is the head, is the anterior by feeding on the rodents harbouring the region that is being used to attach to the intermediate stages. A total of 105 wild mucosa of the small intestine. rats (Rattus sp.) in the vicinity of Kuala The life cycle of this helminth begins Lumpur were trapped and a post-mortem with the eggs which are swallowed by the was carried out. Observation of whole intermediate host, normally a rodent such liver samples showed the presence of cysts as wild rats. These eggs are normally grossly on the surface. On cutting open the discharged by the tapeworms in the gut cysts, tapeworms were found and based on of infected cats or any definitive host and the morphological features of the parasites is excreted in faeces and contaminates nine rats were confirmed to be positive potential food sources of rodents (Combes, for Taenia taeniaeformis tapeworms found 2001). Once these eggs have been consumed in cysts in the liver. The cestode was by the wild rats, the embryo in the eggs identified based on helminthological keys develop into the earliest larval stage, which by Soulsby, 1982. is known as Cysticercus fasciolaris. At this Taenia taeniaeformis is known as a stage, hooks exist in order to poke the helminth which has been classified in the muscle tissues of the wild rats and dig into family of Taeniidae, the flatworm family. the liver through the gut and bloodstream. According to Mehlhorn and Aspoock Later, the larvae will emerge into the stage (2008), the normal size of the eggs for of strobilocerci. At this stage, fluid-filled this species is 35 µm, with the adult worm cysts are produced and comprise of a
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scolex which adheres to the mucosa and Paramesvaran et al., reported 24 out of connects to its terminal bladder until the 30 rodents from five wet markets (Chow larvae matures (Rodraguez-Vivas et al., Kit, Dato Keramat, Setapak, Jinjang and 2011). Kepong) in Kuala Lumpur were positive The adult of this parasitic tapeworm for cestode Taenia taeniaeformis. Thus, is a hermaphrodite. Hence, the eggs could the animals that eat wild rats infected with possibly develop into mature worms Taenia taeniaeformis such as cats would with the strobila (the body) that contains act indirectly as definitive host of Taenia numerous proglottids (the segments) with taeniaeformis. The cats would be infected both male and female reproductive organs . by this parasitic tapeworm after ingestion In fact, wild rats are responsible for and continue to defaecate infective the transmission of a number of diseases. proglottids containing eggs into the Earlier studies by the Veterinary Research environment. Besides that, the infection Institute, Ipoh has shown that from ten rats of Taenia taeniaeformis is classified as caught, seven are mite carriers and four of asymptomatic since there is no specific them are carriers of several bacterial species sign observed in infected cats. such as Leptospira sp., Enterococcus However, the infected cats may start sp., Escherichia coli and Mycoplasma to lose weight and vomit. This is because, arthritidis (Premaalatha et al., 2010). the tapeworms feed on the nutrients from Besides that, a study by Mohd Zain et al., the cats leading to malnutrition in the 2012 has found that 346 Rattus rattus (black infected cats. In addition, tapeworms can rat) and 104 Rattus norvergicus (brown also be found around the anus of cats and rat) caught in Kuala Lumpur were positive in their faeces. Since a high percentage of with Taenia taeniaeformis (60%). In 2009, rats are infected with taeniasis, it may be
Figure 1. Tapeworm Taenia taeniaeformis from the cyst in the liver of wild rat
22 Volume 7 No. 1 January 2016 Malaysian Journal of Veterinary Research useful to check faecal samples of domestic REFERENCES cats in the vicinity for tapeworm eggs. 1. Combes C. (2001). Parasitism: the ecology and evolution Faecal floatation technique is conducted of intimate interactions. University of Chicago Press Ltd in order to identify either the segmented 2. Mehlhorn H. and Aspock H. (2008). 3rd Edition. Encyclopedia of Parasitology. Berlin: Springer. proglottids or eggs in the faecal samples. 3. Mohd Zain S., Behnke J. and Lewis J. (2012). Helminth The positive faecal floatation analysis communities from two urban rat populations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Parasites & Vectors, 5(1):47. would show either spherical eggs with a 4. Paramasvaran S., Sani R.A., Hassa L., Hanjeet Kaur, diameter of 31 µm to 36 µm or the shedding Krishnasamy M., John Jeffery, Santhana Raj, Sumarni Mohd Ghazali and Lim Kuang Hock. (2009) Endo- of segment in the faecal samples. parasite fauna of rodents caught in five wet markets in The infected cats could be treated Kuala Lumpur and its potential zoonotic implications. Tropical Biomedicine 26(1): 67-72 by several prescribed drugs. Cestex, also 5. Premaalatha B., Nurulaini R., Zawida Z., Nor Akmar I., known as epsiprantel, is a specific drug Imelda Lynn V., Adnan M., Zaini C., Jamnah O., Tan L., Zainab Z., Khoo L., Chandrawathani P. and Ramlan M. used to get rid of the Taenia taeniaeformis (2010). A Survey of Bacterial and Parasitic Infections of in infected cats. It immediately removes Rats Caught In the Veterinary Research Institute (VRI) Ipoh. Malaysia Journal of Veterinary Research (MJVR) the tapeworms in the gastrointestinal tract 1(1):45-50. as this drug persists within the tract and 6. Rodraguez-Vivas R., Panti-May J., Parada-Lapez J., Hernandez-Betancourt S. and Ruiz Pia H. (2011). The has minimal rate of being digested. Besides occurrence of the larval cestode Cysticercus fasciolaris that, praziquantel is widely used in killing in rodent populations from the Cuxtal ecological reserve, Yucatan, Mexico. Journal of Helminthology, 85(4):458- of wide range of tapeworms. Animals 461. infected by Taenia taeniaeformis, even the 7. Thomas H. and Gonnert R. (1977). The efficacy of praziquantel against cestodes in animals. Z. F. wild rats, could be treated effectively by a Parasitenkunde 52(2):117-127. single dose of praziquantel (Thomas and Gonnert, 1977).
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