Genetic diversity of rodent Blastocystis sp. from Peninsular Malaysia.

Rodents are ubiquitous zoonotic vectors for many human pathogens including Blastocystis sp. In this study, we examined the prevalence and subtypes of Blastocystis sp. in rodents captured from Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 293 rodents predominantly brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) (290 of 293, 99.0%) and house shrew (Suncus murinus) (3 of 293, 1.0 %), were captured in the vicinity of popular eateries in two cities (Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh) in Peninsular Malaysia. In vitro cultivation method showed presence of Blastocystis sp. in approximately half (133 of 290, 45.9%) of the brown rats tested. Among the 47 Blastocystis isolates subtyped using partial small subunit ribosomal RNA gene analysis, ST4 was the most abundant (43 of 47, 91.5%) followed by ST1 (2 of 47, 4.3%), ST5 (1 of 47, 2.1%) and ST7 (1 of 47, 2.1%). Our findings highlighted the importance of rodents as a source of Blastocystis sp. infection in Malaysia and showed the high prevalence of ST4 within the rodent population infected with Blastocystis sp.

Occurrence of gastro-intestinal parasites among small ruminants in Malaysia: highlighting Dicrocoelium infection in goats.

The aim of the present study was to determine the gastro-intestinal (GI) parasitic infections among small ruminants (i.e., goats, sheep, deer) in Malaysia through formalin-ether concentration technique. Overall, 70.9% or 302 out of 426 small ruminants (79.4% or 251/316 goats; 87.5% or 35/40 sheep; 22.9% or 16/70 deer) were infected with at least one species of GI parasites. Overall, ten types of GI parasites [Helminth: strongyle (57.7%), Moniezia spp. (5.4%), Paramphistomum spp. (4.5%), Strongyloides spp. (4.2%), Dicrocoelium spp. (2.3%), Trichuris spp. (2.3%); Protozoa: Eimeria spp. (23.7%), Entamoeba spp. (18.8%), Giardia spp. (1.9%), Cryptosporidium spp. (0.2%)] were detected in this study. Among the studied animals, goats harboured the highest diversity of GI parasites (ten types), followed by sheep (six types) and deer (two types). Polyparasitism was observed in goats (43.7% or 138 of 316) and sheep (15.0% or 6 of 40). Cumulatively, a total of 32 combinations of coinfections (Helminth+Helminth: 8 combinations; Helminth+Protozoa: 20 combinations; Protozoa+Protozoa: 4 combinations) between detected parasites with up to quintuple infections were reported. Among these parasites, "strongyle + Eimeria spp." and "Moniezia spp. + strongyle" were the commonest infections in goats (13.5% or 34 of 251) and sheep (5.7% or 2 of 6), respectively. This study is a comprehensive documentation on multiple GI parasitisms among small ruminant in Malaysia, and the findings are crucial for effective farm management, especially for the formulation of parasitic control and elimination strategies.

Zoonotic parasites from exotic meat in Malaysia.

Four zoonotic parasites, Sarcocystis spp., Toxoplasma gondii, Trichinella spp. and Taenia spp were screened in exotic meats. A total of forty-six (n=46) meat samples from various species of exotic animals were received from all the 14 states in Malaysia from January 2012 to April 2012. All exotic meat samples were examined macroscopically and histologically for the four zoonotic parasites. Results by histological examination of exotic meats showed the presence of Sarcocystis and Toxoplasma cysts at 8.7% (n=4) and 4.3% (n=2) respectively. No Trichinella spp. and Taenia spp. were found.

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in pigs, goats, cattle, dogs and cats in peninsular Malaysia.

Antibodies to the protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii were assayed in sera of 200 goats, 100 pigs, 126 cattle from various states of Malaysia, and 135 dogs and 55 cats around Ipoh region using an indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT, cut-off titer 1:200); antibodies were found in 35.5% of goats, 14.5% cats, 9.6% dogs, 7.9% local cattle and 4% yellow cattle but not in pigs. Results indicate that infection is most prevalent in goats.