title: Intestinal helminthic infections in striped field mice, Apodemus agrarius, from two southern regions of Korea.
abstract: The present study was performed to know the infection status of intestinal helminths in a most common species of field mice, Apodemus agrarius, from 2 southern regions of Korea. Total 133 and 103 mice were collected by the mouse trap in Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do and Gurye-gun, Jeollanam-do, respectively, from July 2005 to June 2006. The small intestine of each mouse was resected and longitudinally opened with a pair of scissors. The intestinal contents were washed with 0.85% saline until the supernatant became clear. Helminths were collected with naked eyes or under a stereomicroscope from the sediment of the intestinal content. More than 11 species of helminths (4 nematode spp., 5 trematode spp., and 2 cestode spp.) were recovered. Among these, heligmosomoid nematodes (97.5%) was the most highly and heavily infected species. As the members of trematodes, Plagiorchis muris, Brachylaima sp., Echinostoma hortense, Echinostoma cinetorchis, and unidentified echinostome larvae were found in the small intestines of 35 (14.8%), 12 (5.1%), 6 (2.5%), 1 (0.4%), and 1 (0.4%) mice respectively. Two species of tapeworms, Hymenolepis nana and Hymenolepis diminuta were also detected in 79 (33.5%) and 21 (8.9%) mice, respectively. Conclusively, heligmosomoid nematodes were the most prevalent (dominant) species among more than 11 helminth species detected, and Brachylaima sp. fluke is newly added in the list of intestinal trematodes in Korea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, and Institute of Health Science, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine, Jinju 660-751, Korea.
authors.forename: Woon-Mok
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, and Institute of Health Science, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine, Jinju 660-751, Korea.
authors.forename: Byoung-Kuk
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Na
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Jeollanam-do Institute of Health and Environment, Gwangju 502-810, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyeon-Je
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Jeollanam-do Institute of Health and Environment, Gwangju 502-810, Korea.
authors.forename: Chung-Mo
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Gyeongsangnam-do Institute of Health and Environment, Changwon 641-825, Korea.
authors.forename: Gi-Jin
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Nam
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006373:Helminthiasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology; D006376:Helminths / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D051189:Murinae / Q000469:parasitology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology
keywords: Apodemus agrarius; Intestinal helminth; southern region of Korea; striped field mouse