The Prevalence of Haemoparasites in Rodents and Shrews Trapped from Domestic and Peridomestic Houses in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania. A Hidden Public Health Threat

Abstract

A total of 70 small mammals were captured from domestic and peri-domestic houses in Morogoro municipality to determine the prevalence, relative abundance and diversity of haemoparasites. Tramping was carried out using Shermans and locally made live traps bated with a mixture of peanut butter and maize bran. Blood samples were collected from supraorbital vein in the captured animals. Thick and thin smears were made and screened for infectious agents of public health importance that included Babesia spp., Plasmodium spp., Trypanosoma spp. and Bacillus spp.Two rodent species from captured samall mammals were identified as Rattus rattus (Roof rat) being the most dominant specie followed by Mastomys natalensis (Farm rat). Four blood protozoan species were found infecting the rodent population namely, Plasmodium spp. (n=6/70, 8.57%), Babesia spp. (n=5/70, 7.14%), Bacillus spp. (n=2/70, 2.86%) and Trypanosoma spp. (n=3/70, 4.29%). The relative abundance of the Rattus rattus was estimated to be (n=60/70, 85.7%) while that of Mastomys natalensis was (n=10/70, 14.3%). There was no any Shrew spp. that were captured in the trapping sites. The diversity of haemoparasites in the study area was 1.01. Plasmodium spp. infections as well as that of Trypanosoma spp were observed in both sexes; however, infections were higher in sub-adult rats. Malaria and sleeping sickness remain as a serious health threat and yet a vaccine is not yet available. Mosquitoes that are biting rodents also bite humans in their houses. So spreading of Plasmodium spp and Trypanosoma spp from
rodents to humans is inevitable. Every year, many people suffer from malaria and sleeping sickness and die as a consequence of these diseases. In most cases children in Africa under the age of five die from Malaria while people of all ages die from sleeping sickness in the tsetse fly infested areas. The public health implications of these findings require communitywide rodents control strategies with strong emphasis on community participation in order to prevent rapid spread of rodent population.

Keywords: Haemoparasites, Rodents, Malaria, Sleeping sickness, Public health, Morogoro Municipality