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Occurrence of Angiostrongylus cantonensis in rodents from the rice granary of the Philippines and associated risk factors for zoonotic transmission

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Abstract

Rattus tanezumi and Rattus norvegicus are the most common rodent species in the Philippines, with the former mainly inhabiting agricultural land and the latter in urban areas. Generating information on the Angiostrongylus cantonensis harbored by these rodents would be useful for public health. A total of 600 rodents were collected from traps placed each month from July to December 2012 in selected villages of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija; the rice granary of the Philippines. The prevalence of A. cantonensis in R. tanezumi and R. norvegicus was, 100%; all the rodents from the five villages were infected. The study shows that regardless of stages, body weight and length, rodents are vulnerable to infection by Angiostrongylus cantonensis present in the environment. However in terms of sex, results revelead that the male and female in R. tanezumi has no statistically significance while R. norvegicus revealed that male and female has statistically significance. This study also show that, rodents that were caught in the agricultural area has higher mean intensity compared to rodents that were trapped in the residential areas but found to be insignificant. Also through survey interviews the various risk factors with zoonotic implication of A. cantonensis in the area was also discussed.

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Acknowledgements

This research was financially supported by International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). We would also like to thank the staff of Philippine Rice Research Institute for their kind collaborations in collecting rodent samples and for the assistance and facilites provided.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, College of Arts and Sciences, Central Luzon State University, Nueva Ecija, Philippines

    Diane Shiela C. Castillo

  2. Division of Animal Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Los Baños, Philippines

    Vachel Gay V. Paller

Authors
  1. Diane Shiela C. Castillo
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  2. Vachel Gay V. Paller
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Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: DSCC, VGV; Performed the experiment, Data analysis: DSCC; Both authors participated in writing the final paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diane Shiela C. Castillo.

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All authors declares that they have no conflict of interest.

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Castillo, D.S.C., Paller, V.G.V. Occurrence of Angiostrongylus cantonensis in rodents from the rice granary of the Philippines and associated risk factors for zoonotic transmission. J Parasit Dis 42, 350–356 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12639-018-1005-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12639-018-1005-z

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