Affiliations 

  • 1 Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Trop Biomed, 2020 Dec 01;37(4):1152-1157.
PMID: 33612768 DOI: 10.47665/tb.37.4.1152

Abstract

Some filarial nematodes, such as Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, and Brugia timori, cause lymphatic diseases in humans in the tropics, whereas other filarial parasites from wild animals cause zoonotic diseases in humans worldwide. To elucidate the prevalence and diversity of filarial parasites in Malaysia, we investigated the filarial parasites from wild animals in Gemas, Negeri Sembilan. To find adult filarial parasites, we dissected 26 animals, which included five frogs, one skink, one snake, two birds, six common treeshrews, and 11 rats. Then, we examined microfilariae in the blood smears and skin snips obtained from each animal. We found two types of microfilariae in the blood smears of common treeshrews: one was very similar to Malayfilaria sofiani and the other closely resembled Brugia tupaiae. These findings indicate an additional distribution of these filarial parasites in Gemas.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.