Cryptosporidiosis reservoir in wild brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) in the UK.
Rats (n = 73) were trapped from nine rural farms around Oxfordshire and faeces were examined using the auramine-phenol and the Modified Ziehl-Neelsen techniques. Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts were detected in the faeces from 46 (63%) rats. This suggests that wild rats represent a risk to human and livestock health through the carriage and transmission of this zoonotic protozoan.
Webster
J P
JP
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford.
Macdonald
D W
DW
D000818:Animals; D003457:Cryptosporidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D016785:Cryptosporidium parvum / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D051381:Rats / Q000469:parasitology*; D012621:Seasons; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology