Cestodes fauna of silvery mole rats (Heliophobius Argentiocinereus Emini) in Morogoro region, Tanzania
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Date
2024
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Ideas in Health
Abstract
Background: Silvery mole rat (Heliophobius Argentiocinereus) is a subterranean rodent widely distributed throughout
Sub-Saharan Africa. They have been reported to host several gastrointestinal parasites, however, the status of
parasites from these rats in Tanzania has not been widely studied. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of
cestodes parasites in silvery mole rats from the Morogoro region.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Mlali and Mji mkuu wards of the Mvomero and Morogoro
urban districts in Tanzania, from March to June 2023. Silvery mole rats were collected through manual excavation of
their burrows in agri-ecological areas. The captured rats were euthanized using Diethyl Ether and dissected to remove
the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). GIT contents were gathered. Adult worms were collected and preserved in 70.0%
ethanol. A flotation and aceto-carmine staining techniques were employed to process gastrointestinal contents and
adult tapeworms respectively. Both cestode eggs and adult tapeworms were identified based on general morphological
features using taxonomic keys. The prevalence of cestodes was computed, and a chi-square test was applied to
assess association, a p-value≤ 0.05 was considered significant.
Results: One hundred thirty-seven silvery mole rats were collected, adult females 65% (89/137) were dominant
among collected rats. One species of gastrointestinal cestode was detected with an overall prevalence of 20.44%
(28/137) and identified as Hymenolepis diminuta. A total of 392 adult worms and 1450 eggs per gram (EPG) for H.
diminuta were collected from the gastrointestinal tract. A significant association was shown between cestodes infection
with both host age and reproductive category (p< 0.05).
Conclusion: This study has established that Hymenolepidae (H. diminuta) is prevalent in silvery mole rats of the
Morogoro region, suggesting that this animal could be among the sources of hymenolepiasis disease in the
community. Therefore, further studies are needed to investigate cestodes fauna in community members of the
respective study area.
Description
Journal Article
Keywords
Hymenolepis diminuta, Prevalence, Morogoro, Silvery Mole Rats, Endoparasites, Tanzania
Citation
Shija D, Nzalawahe J, Ngalameno M, Mafie E. Cestodes fauna of silvery mole rats (Heliophobius Argentiocinereus Emini) in Morogoro Region, Tanzania. Journal of Ideas in Health.2024;7(5): 1167-1173. https://doi.org/10.47108/jidhealth.Vol7.Iss5.372