Babesia infection in rodents trapped in Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia with a general discussion

ABSTRACT

Species of Babesia are intra-erythrocytic protozoal parasites of many species of mammalians in all parts of the world where the tick-vectors are found. Babesiosis or piroplasmosis causes considerable damage to the livestock and other animals. Human babesiosis has been documented in many countries. Consequently, babesiosis is a zoonotic disease of medical, veterinary and economic importance. In this study, a total of 310 rodents of different species were trapped from different areas in Riyadh Region, Saudi Arabia. These rodents were Rattus rattus [142], R. norvegicus [24], Mus musculus [8], Meriones carassus [56], Jaculus jaculus [16], Gerbillus cheesmani [50], and Acomys c. dimidiatus [14]. Natural Babesia infection was parasitologically detected in 95 of them [30.65%]. The highest infection rate was among R. rattus [34.5%]. The lowest rate was among G. cheesmani [20%]. None of the M. musculus was infected. Since most of these rodents are commensal, i.e. living in close contact with man, a general discussion on the pathogenesis, immunity and diagnosis was given