Rodents and their ectoparasites in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt

Rodents serve as reservoir hosts for many parasitic and bacterial diseases which are spread to man and animals by their habits, their droppings or by their arthropod ectoparasites. Commensal (semi-domestic) rodents were collected by different methods from Sharkia Governorate over a period of one year, 1989. The trapped rodents in descending order of prevalence were Rattus norvegicus, Rattus rattus, Mus musculus and Gerbillus gerbillus. The ectoparasites were collected and identified as five species of fleas, one species of lice and one species of mites. The role of these rodents as animal reservoirs and their ectoparasites as vectors of zoonotic diseases was discussed.