Seasonal prevalence of the helminth fauna of the wood rat Rattus tiomanicus (Miller) in West Malaysia

A helminthological examination of 367 wood rats, Rattus tiomanicus, in an oil-palm. estate 24 miles north of Kuala Lumpur conducted during 1973 revealed 8 species of helminths: 5 nematodes. Angiostrongylus malaysiensis (54.2% of the rats infected), Hepatojarakus malayae (48.5%), Nippostrongylus braziliensis (48.0%), Gongylonema neoplasticum (0.3%), Syphacia muris (17.7%); 3 cestodes, Hymenolepis diminuta (6.0%), Hymenolepis nana (7.6%), Hydatigera taeniaeformis (cysticercus) (12.0%) and 1 pentastomid, Armillifer sp. (nymph) (0.8%). Overall helminthic infection rates seemed to be higher than those previously reported in this host species.