The recovery of six adult Gnathostoma spinigerum Owen, 1936 from a civet cat, Prionodon linsang Hardwick, constitutes the second reported record of this parasite and the first authenticated case of adult worms found in a wild animal from Malaysia. The food habits of the infected P. linsang as an important link in the transmission of G. spinigerum in the intermediate and definitive hosts together with the probable distribution of this parasite are discussed.
Three species of commonly eaten shellfish found in Malaysian coastal waters were examined for the presence of common bacterial enteropathogens. Vibrio parahaemolyticus, non-agglutinating vibrios, and various serotypes of enteropathogenic E. coli were isolated from a large proportion of them. Salmonella were isolated in two instances. High colony counts with evidence of faecal contamination indicated the strong possibility of pulltion being the cause for the presence of these enteropathogens. Methods of cooking and eating these shellfish enhance their likelihood of acting as vehicles of diarrhoeal disease.