Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection in wild mice along the Yangtze River basins in Anhui Province in 2022

CHINESE JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY AND PARASITIC DISEASES ›› 2025, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (5): 727-730.doi: 10.12140/j.issn.1000-7423.2025.05.020

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Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection in wild mice along the Yangtze River basins in Anhui Province in 2022

XU Xiaojuan1()(), CHEN Xuefeng2, WU Fan3, WU Chenyang4, LIU Ting1, DAI Bo1, ZHANG Shiqing1,*()()   

  1. 1 Anhui Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hefei 230601, Anhui, China
    2 Shitai County Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shitai 245100, Anhui, China
    3 Wuhu Municipal Institute for Endemic Disease Control, Wuhu 241001, Anhui, China
    4 Guichi District Station of Schistosomiasis Control, Chizhou 247100, Anhui, China
  • Received:2024-12-30 Revised:2025-02-14 Online:2025-10-30 Published:2025-09-16
  • Contact: *E-mail: zhangsq2820@163.com

Abstract:

The prevalence of parasitic infections was investigated in wild mice in 50 administrative villages across 38 townships in 6 cities of Wuhu, Ma’anshan, Tongling, Anqing, Chizhou, and Xuancheng in Anhui Province from October to November 2022. Wild mice were captured with baited traps or cages at night, and characterized for species. Then, mice were sacrificed, and the liver and mesenteric tissues were dissected and examined for parasitic infections using tissue biopsy or microscopy. Mouse stool samples were collected and tested for parasite eggs using the modified Kato-Katz thick smear technique. The differences in infection rates were analyzed using the χ² test in SPSS 23.0 software. A total of 1 703 wild mice were captured, and 678 were tested positive for parasitic infections, yielding an overall infection prevalence rate of 39.81%. The three cities with the highest prevalence included Xuancheng City (77.50%, 62/80), Wuhu City (72.97%, 54/74), and Anqing City (64.00%, 272/425). The captured mice included 931 females, 769 males, and 3 of unknown sex, and the infection rates were 40.92% (381/931), 38.49% (296/769) and 1/3, respectively, with comparable prevalence between male and female mice (χ² = 1.040, P > 0.05). Rattus losea (41.87%, 713/1 703), Apodemus agrarius (38.64%, 658/1 703) and R. tanezumi (11.27%, 192/1 703) were predominant mouse species, with prevalence rates of 34.64% (247/713), 40.58% (267/658) and 61.46% (118/192), respectively, and there was a mouse species-specific prevalence rate of parasitic infections (χ² = 48.484, P < 0.01). Parasites detected in the 678 infected rodents included hookworm, Ascaris lumbricoides, Capillaria hepatica, Hymenolepis nana, H. diminuta, Fasciolopsis buski, Trichuris trichura and Opisthorchis. Mono-infection accounted for 78.61% (533/678) of wild mice, and co-infections with two parasite species occurred in 20.21% (137/678), while triple infections with three parasite species occurred in 1.18% (8/678). The findings indicate that parasitic infections are highly prevalence in wild mice in Anhui Province, which poses a risk to human parasitic infections. Intensified monitoring of parasitic infections is recommended in wild mice.

Key words: Parasite, Infection, Wild mouse, Distribution, Anhui Province

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