A Helminthological Record on Free-Ranging Pikas and Rodents Collected from Tibetan Plateau, China: Preliminary Results - Abstract
There is little available data regarding helminths of mammals in the Tibetan Plateau, Qinghai Province, China. This study presents preliminary data obtained from the China-Japan co-operative survey, performed in the summers of 2007 and 2009.Alimentary tracts and viscera of 78 small mammals, including plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) and rodents (Mus musculus, Alticola stoliczkanus, Cricetulus longicaudatus, Meriones meridianus and Phodopus roborovskii), were investigated. Thirty of these animals were negative for helminths. Among the helminth-positive samples, no platyhelminthes (including
metacestodes of Echinococcus spp.) or acanthocephalan parasites were obtained. Four nematode genera, including Heligmosomoides, Heligmosomum, Syphacia and Trichuris were obtained from rodents. Four other nematode genera and species, including Ohbayashinem aochotoni, Trichostrongylus retortaeformis,
Gradiphiellaochotonae and Cephaluris coloradensis, were obtained from the plateau pika spp. With the exception of C. coloradensis, these were first recorded instances of these species in the pikas. These can be added as newly-recorded nematode parasites in plateau pikas, though none of these are new species,
nor do they appear medically relevant.