Acarine ectoparasites of Panti Forest Reserve in Johore,Malaysia

Objective:To identify the presence of acarine ectoparasites and determine whether there is any potential public health risk in Panti Forest Reserve,Johore,Malaysia.Methods:Trapping of animals and avifauna was conducted simultaneously along 5 expedition trails using 150 wire traps,10 harp traps and 30 mist nets for 6 consecutive nights.A total of 140 animals consisting of 7 species of birds,19 species of bats,6 species of rodents and 1 species of tree-shrew as well as 8 myriapods were examined.Results:Infestation rates of ticks,mesostigmatid mites and chiggers on animals examined were 24.3%,28.6%and 27.9%,respectively.Infestation on bats was low(1.5%) and none occurred on birds.Majority of ticks extracted were at immature stages(78.9%). Genera of ticks on animals were Amblyomma,Dermacentor,Haemaphysalis and Ixodes.Ixodes granulatus was the only species of licks identified from the animals.Examination of ticks under vegetation revealed 54%adults leading to identification of 3 species of ticks.A total of 7 species of mesostigmatid mites were found.6 species were on rodent,Maxomys mrifer and another one species,Laelaps nuttalli was found only on Leopoldamys sabanus.Laelaps sanguisugus was the only mesostigmatid found infesting tree-shrews.Seven genera of chiggers were identified.From this,5 genera were on rodents,4 genera on tree-shrews and 1 genus on a bat.Conclusions:A total of 16 genera,2 sub-genus and 14 species of acarine ectoparasites were found in this area. Findings of the survey demonstrate the presence of three spesies of acarine ectoparasites which have potential health risk i.e.Ixodes granulalus,Laelaps nuttalli and Leptotrombidium deliense.

Acariasis on pet Burmese python,Python molurus bivittatus in Malaysia

Objective:To identify the acari present on pet Burmese pythons in Malaysia and to determine whether there is any potential public health risk related to handling of the snakes.Methods: Two sub-adult Burmese pythons kept as pets for a period of about 6 to 7 months by different owners,were brought to an exotic animal practice for treatment.On a complete medical examination,some ticks and mites(acari) were detected beneath the dorsal and ventral scales along body length of the snakes.Ticks were directly identified and mites were mounted prior to identification.Results:A total of 12 ticks represented by 3 males,2 females and 7 nymphal stages of Rhipicephalus sanguineus(R.sanguineus) were extracted from the first python while the other one was with 25 female Ophionyssus natricis(O.natricis) mesostigmatid mites.Only adult female mites were found.These mites are common ectoparasites of Burmese pythons. Conclusions:Both the acarine species found on the Burmese pythons are known vectors of pathogens.This is the first record that R.sanguineus has been reported from a pet Burmese python in Malaysia.

Intra-aural ticks (Acari:Metastigmata:Ixodidae) from human otoacariasis cases in Pahang,Malaysia.

Ticks were extracted from ear canal of 318 cases in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan,Kuantan,Pahang over a 5-year period(January 2002 to December 2006).A total of 329 ticks were recorded and a majority belonged to the genus Dermacentor(99.7%).The genus was represented by Dermacentor atrosignatus,Dermacentor compactus and Dermacentor steini.A single tick of the genus Haemaphysalis was found.All active stages(larvae, nymphs and adults) were present.The nymphal stages were most frequently encountered(82.4%).Usually, there was only one tick per case.However,there were 7 cases where 2 or 3 ticks were extracted from a single ear canal.Throughout the study,there were 6 repeat cases.Average body engorgement indices for detached larvae,nymph,male and female ticks were 1.04,1.24,1.32 and 1.31,respectively.Based on these indices,duration of attachment was then predicted.Attachment for most nymphal(99.6%) and all adult ticks were less than 24 hours.Only 1 nymphal tick attached for a 60 hours’duration.Ticks were commonly found in the bony part of ear auditory canal(47.3%),followed by tympanic membrane(29.1%) and cartilage part of ear auditory canal(22.0%);a small percent was attached to the pinna(1.6%).All ticks were alive before extraction.However,most attached ticks were found dead(71.7%) after extraction.Majority of the ticks were intact(90.3%) while others were either in a bad condition(3.6%) or broken(6.1%).Those alive were either unfed or at early stage of feeding.Generally,removal of ticks did not result in any complication (61.4%) to the cases.The most common complication was bleeding(27.6%),followed by haematoma of external auditory canal(5.5%),haematoma of tympanic membrane(3.1%) and perforated tympanic membrane (1.6%).Bleeding was a common complication at the site of skin abrasion due to the strong grip of ticks ’mouthparts that were deeply embedded into the skin of cases.In this study,32.5%of removal ticks had remnants of case tissues attached to the ticks’mouthparts.