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The map depicted the Middle East countries with the total number of studies and the number of helminths detected in rodents.
Source publication
Simple Summary: The review was conducted to establish an overview of rodent helminths in the Middle East as well as their public health importance. Following a systematic search, 65 field research were identified, studied, and analyzed. The overall prevalence of cestodes, nematodes, and trematodes were 24.88%, 32.71%, and 10.17%, respectively. The...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... literature search returned 65 articles ( Figure 1, Supplementary Table S2) published from 1969 to 2019. These articles were from 11 out of 17 Middle East countries, such as Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey ( Figure 2). No report on rodent helminths was available from Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. ...
Citations
... Rodents are the largest terrestrial mammalian group, with approximately 10% are considered pests [6]. In Middle Eastern countries, an estimated 100 helminth species have been reported in rodents, of which 22 are of considerable public health concern [7]. These animals also carry several vectors for zoonotic pathogens. ...
... Among the four helminth species identified in this study, H. diminuta and T. taeniaeformis were the most prevalent. H. diminuta is a common intestinal parasite found in small rodents worldwide [7,52], including in Qatar [50]. H. diminuta can be transmitted by arthropod vectors such as beetles, caterpillars, cockroaches, and fleas [52]. ...
Rodents are known reservoirs for a diverse group of zoonotic pathogens that can pose a threat to human health. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate these pathogens to institute prevention and control measures. To achieve this, the current study was conducted to investigate the frequency of different parasites in commensal rodents in Qatar. A total of 148 rodents, including Rattus norvegicus, Rattus rattus, and Mus musculus were captured using traps placed in different habitats such as agricultural and livestock farms, residential areas, and other localities. Blood, feces, ectoparasite, and visceral organs were collected for gross, microscopic, immunological, and molecular analysis. The study identified 10 different parasites, including Capillaria annulosa, Eimeria spp., Giardia spp., Hymenolepis diminuta, Mastophorus muris, Ornithonyssus bacoti, Taenia taeniaeformis, Toxoplasma gondii, Trypanosoma lewisi, and Xenopsylla astia. Overall, 62.2% of the rodents tested positive for at least one parasite species. Helminths were found to be the most prevalent parasites (46.0%), followed by ectoparasites (31.8%), and protozoa (10.1%). However, individually, X. astia was the most prevalent (31.8%), whereas C. annulosa was the least common (0.7%). The prevalence of X. astia and H. diminuta significantly differed between habitats (p < 0.05). The sequence analysis of Hymenolepis spp. was closely related to the previously reported H. diminuta in Iran, China, and Mexico. In conclusion, the study identified a diverse range of rodent-borne parasites that are
important to public health, with most of them being recorded for the first time among commensal rodents in Qatar.
... Their predatory and depredatory behaviors have a significant negative socio-economic impact on humans, and perhaps more significantly, they are major vectors of human and domestic animal diseases worldwide (Huq et al., 1985;Echchakery et al., 2015). The important zoonotic agents, which are transmitted directly or indirectly by rodents include Hymenolepis nana, H. diminuta, Trichinella spp., Moniliformis spp., Capillaria hepatica, Taenia taeniaeformis, Gongylonema spp., Toxoplasma spp., Cysticercus fasciolaris, Trichuris muris, Giardia spp., Balantidium spp., Leishmania spp., and Echinococcus spp (Ceruti et al., 2001;Berentsen et al., 2015;Ribas et al., 2016;Arzamani et al., 2017;Echchakery et al., 2015Echchakery et al., , 2017Hasanpour et al., 2017;Islam et al., 2020;Gliga et al., 2020). ...
... The mode of contamination, transmission, infection, and pathogenicity, as well as the host's immune response to these pathogens, follow a typical pattern. From amongst the 300,000 species of helminths that typically infect vertebrates, 287 species infect humans, of which 95% are either zoonosis or have evolved from animal parasites (Bruschi, 2014;Islam et al., 2020). These parasites in rodents have been thoroughly studied and documented (Mészáros and Murai, 1979;Ondríková et al., 2010;Tinnin et al., 2011;Kia et al., 2010;Pakdel et al., 2013;Bjelić-Čabrilo et al., 2014;Yousefi et al., 2014;Gliga et al., 2020). ...
... Rodents in irrigated rice crops and villages are common carriers of zoonotic endoparasites, posing a significant threat to public health (Rabiee et al., 2018;Herawati et al., 2020). These findings align with the study conducted by Islam et al. (2020), documenting the presence of cestodes, nematodes, and trematodes in collected rodents. Moreover, Okorafor et al. (2012) found that the gastrointestinal tract of rodents, particularly the small intestines, harbors the highest number of parasites, mainly nematodes. ...
... Meanwhile, Tung et al. (2013) detected infections in commensal rats and shrews in Taiwan. This zoonotic cestode is known to cause hymenolepiasis in humans in various countries (Islam et al., 2020). Despite its global distribution, there have been very few reports of human cases in the Philippines. ...
Rodents are known reservoirs of different zoonotic parasites. This study aimed to determine the occurrence of zoonotic helminths in rodents from different habitats in selected municipalities in Cotabato Province, Philippines. A total of 120 rodents and shrews were collected using live traps from two habitats (i.e., agricultural and residential areas) in the municipalities of Kabacan and Matalam. Formalin Ethyl Acetate Concentration Technique (FEACT) and microscpy revealed that 98/120 (81.67%) were infected with zoonotic helminths. Nine parasitic helminths were identified: six species were nematodes (Ascaris spp., Gonglyonema spp., Nippostrongylus spp., Strongyloides spp., Angiostrongylus spp. and Capillaria spp.); two species were trematodes (Echinostoma spp. and Schistosoma japonicum); and one cestode species (Hymenolepis spp). This is the first report of rodent gongyglonemiasis and schistosomiasis in the southern Philippines. Rats and shrews from agricultural areas had a higher diversity of infectious zoonotic helminths but infection rates were significantly higher in those captured from residential areas. This study confirmed that rats and shrews from the two municipalities are infected with varying zoonotic helminths which pose a significant but overlooked One Health threat to people, other animals, and their shared environment.
... The consumption of uncooked or improperly cooked food contaminated with infective larvae, eggs, or metacercariae is the primary source of human infestation with helminth parasites (CDC 2020;Peter 2020). Rodents can contaminate food with their feces or urine while pilfering human food, which can lead to the transmission of zoonotic helminths from rodents to humans (Islam et al. 2020;Abdullah 2023;Štrbac et al. 2023). In some parts of the world, there has been an increasing number of recorded cases of parasitic zoonoses (WHO 2019). ...
... Consequently, we decided to update the relevant information and identify the gaps that require attention to emphasize research in these areas. Therefore, our aforementioned review [1] represents the first work of its kind in this region, where we compiled published articles spanning over 50 years in the Middle East. ...
... We sincerely appreciate the interest shown by Hamzavi et al. [2] in our article [1] and their comprehensive review of it. In response to their comments, we would like to address a few points. ...
... Throughout our review [1], we conducted meticulous and diligent observation and analysis to ensure the accuracy of the presented information. Our primary objective was to retrieve precise and relevant data while avoiding any misinformation. ...
Rodents serve as an important reservoir or carrier of zoonotic pathogens on a global scale [...]
... I read with great interest the article by Islam et al. entitled "Helminth parasites among rodents in the Middle East countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis" published in Animals in December 2020 [1]. The authors of the article conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies that investigated helminthic parasites in rodents in the Middle East region. ...
I read with great interest the article by Islam et al. entitled “Helminth parasites among rodents in the Middle East countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis” published in Animals in December 2020 [...]
... In the initial model, several putative protective factors were observed, such as rodent control with poison, change of shoes for visitors, and cat presence in the herd (Table 3). Rodents can act as mechanical or direct vectors of Giardia, and it has been shown that they can potentially carry assemblages A and B [38,39]; therefore, rodent control acts as a protective factor and may reduce Giardia cyst prevalence in herds from the vectors. The lower risk due to changing visitor shoes shows that the simple introduction of epidemiological safety regulations within a herd could minimise the transmission routes of Giardia and other pathogens into the herd [40]. ...
Giardia duodenalis is a waterborne zoonotic protozoan that causes gastrointestinal tract inflammation in humans, cattle, and other animals. The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence and potential risk factors for Giardia infection in cattle in Latvia. During 2020–2021, a total of 973 individual faecal samples from cattle aged from 1 day to 12 years old, from 32 cattle herds, were tested for Giardia cyst presence with immunofluorescence staining followed by Giardia assemblage differentiation targeting beta-giardin gene. Using a questionnaire, information was collected to estimate the potential risk factors for G. duodenalis infection in cattle herds. Giardia was found in 8.4% of the examined cattle with a mean intensity of 5756 cysts per gram of faeces. The highest prevalence was observed in the 0 to 3-month-old calves (16.4%). At least one Giardia shedding animal was found in 27 herds with an overall prevalence of 84.4%. Significantly higher prevalence was found for cattle infected with G. duodenalis assemblage E compared to that infected with assemblage A: 88.7% and 11.3%, respectively. Protective factors such as age and rodent control and change of shoes were found to be significant for Giardia infection, while isolating calves for diarrhoea and water bodies (ponds/lakes) in pasture were potential risk factors in Latvian cattle.
... Then systematic data searches were conducted on Embase, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science on 18 April 2023 using the keywords: ((Camel OR Dromedary OR Bactrian OR Alpaca OR Llama OR Guanaco OR "Hybrid came") AND ("Middle East respiratory syndrome" OR MERS OR "Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus" OR MERS-CoV)), without any timeframe of publication. Following a similar approach to a previous systematic review [21], literature searches were filtered by selecting Title/Abstract in PubMed, TITLE-ABS-KEY in Scopus, and Topic in Web of Science. The search results were transferred to EndNote X9 (Clarivate Analytics, Philadelphia, PA, USA) and duplicates were identified and removed. ...
The Middle East respiratory syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is one of the human coronaviruses that causes severe respiratory infection. Bats are considered to be the natural reservoir, where dromedary camels (DC) are the intermediate hosts of the virus. The current study was undertaken to provide an update on global distribution of the virus in camels, and to investigate the pooled prevalence and camel-associated risk factors of infection. After registration of the review protocol in the Open Science Framework, data searches were conducted on 18 April 2023 through Embase, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Considering only natural MERS-CoV infection in camels, 94 articles were selected for data curation through blind screening by two authors. Meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the pooled prevalence and to evaluate camel-associated risk factors. Finally, the results were presented in forest plots. The reviewed articles tested 34 countries, of which camels of 24 countries were seropositive and in 15 countries they were positive by molecular method. Viral RNA was detected in DC. Non-DC, such as bactrian camels, alpaca, llama, and hybrid camels were only seropositive. The global estimated pooled seroprevalence and viral RNA prevalence in DC were 77.53% and 23.63%, respectively, with the highest prevalence in West Asia (86.04% and 32.37% respectively). In addition, 41.08% of non-DC were seropositive. The estimated pooled prevalence of MERS-CoV RNA significantly varied by sample types with the highest in oral (45.01%) and lowest in rectal (8.42%) samples; the estimated pooled prevalence in nasal (23.10%) and milk (21.21%) samples were comparable. The estimated pooled seroprevalence in <2 years, 2-5 years, and > 5 years age groups were 56.32%, 75.31%, and 86.31%, respectively, while viral RNA prevalence was 33.40%, 15.87%, and 13.74%, respectively. Seroprevalence and viral RNA prevalence were generally higher in females (75.28% and 19.70%, respectively) than in males (69.53% and 18.99%, respectively). Local camels had lower estimated pooled seroprevalence (63.34%) and viral RNA prevalence (17.78%) than those of imported camels (89.17% and 29.41%, respectively). The estimated pooled seroprevalence was higher in camels of free-herds (71.70%) than confined herds (47.77%). Furthermore, estimated pooled seroprevalence was higher in samples from livestock markets, followed by abattoirs, quarantine, and farms but viral RNA prevalence was the highest in samples from abattoirs, followed by livestock markets, quarantine, and farms. Risk factors, such as sample type, young age, female sex, imported camels, and camel management must be considered to control and prevent the spread and emergence of MERS-CoV.
... Those include Calomyscidae, Cricetidae, Dipodidae, Gliridae, Spalacidae, and Muridae which is the most prevalent. 16 Of those families, many species have been reported to host rodent-borne viruses that caused multiple outbreaks around the world (Table 1) ...
Rodents are one of the most abundant mammal species in the world. They form more than two-fifth of all mammal species and there are approximately 4600 existing rodent species. Rodents are capable of transmitting deadly diseases, especially those that are caused by viruses. Viruses and their consequences have plagued the world for the last two centuries, three pandemics occurred during the last century only. The Middle East is situated at the crossroads of Africa and Asia, along with the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, its geographic importance is gained through the diversity of topographies, biosphere, as well as climate aspects that make the region vulnerable to host emerging diseases. Refugee crises also play a major role in expected epidemic outbreaks in the region. Public health has always been the most important priority, and our aim in this review is to raise awareness among public health organisations across the Middle East about the dangers of rodent borne diseases that have been reported or are suspected to be found in the region.
... Those include Calomyscidae, Cricetidae, Dipodidae, Gliridae, Spalacidae, and Muridae which is the most prevalent. 16 Of those families, many species have been reported to host rodent-borne viruses that caused multiple outbreaks around the world (Table 1) ...
Rodents are one of the most abundant mammal species in the world. They form
more than two‐fifth of all mammal species and there are approximately 4600
existing rodent species. Rodents are capable of transmitting deadly diseases,
especially those that are caused by viruses. Viruses and their consequences have
plagued the world for the last two centuries, three pandemics occurred during the
last century only. The Middle East is situated at the crossroads of Africa and Asia,
along with the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, its geographic importance
is gained through the diversity of topographies, biosphere, as well as climate aspects
that make the region vulnerable to host emerging diseases. Refugee crises also play
a major role in expected epidemic outbreaks in the region. Public health has always
been the most important priority, and our aim in this review is to raise awareness
among public health organisations across the Middle East about the dangers of
rodent borne diseases that have been reported or are suspected to be found in the
region.
