Giardiasis: Serum antibodies and coproantigens in brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) from Grenada, West Indies

Vet World Vol.11 March-2018 Article-6

Research Article

Veterinary World, 11(3): 293-296

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2018.293-296

Keshaw Tiwari, Camille Coomansingh Springer, Alfred Chikweto, Josephine Tang, Yvette Sepulveda, Amanda Leigh Smith, Nia Rametta, and Ravindra Nath Sharma

Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, St. George's University, Grenada, West Indies.

Background and Aim: Giardia is a serious zoonotic parasite, which causes diarrheal disease in humans and animals including rodents. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of Giardia spp. in brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) in Grenada.

Materials and Methods: Intestinal contents from 99 and serum samples from 169 brown rats (R. norvegicus) from Grenada were collected. These samples were examined for the Giardia coproantigens using Cryptosporidium/Giardia Quik Chek assay (Tech lab® Inc., USA), and the serum was screened through an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test kit for Giardia antibody (anti-GD) ELISA kit (MyBioSource, San Diego, CA, USA).

Results: Giardia coproantigens were positive in 17.17% (95% confidence interval [CI]; 10.33-26.06%) rats, whereas 55% (95% CI: 47.20-62.68) were positive with serum antibodies (anti-GD) to Giardia.

Conclusion: The prevalence of Giardia spp. in brown rats in Grenada was moderate based on the presence of coproantigens in the intestinal contents and antibody in serum. The findings of Giardia infections and prevalence in brown rats will help veterinarians and physicians to better plan diagnostic and preventative strategies. This is the first report of prevalence of Giardia in brown rats in Grenada. Keywords: antibody, brown rat, coproantigens, Giardia, Grenada.

Keywords: antibody, brown rat, coproantigens, Giardia, Grenada.

How to cite this article: Tiwari K, Springer CC, Chikweto A, Tang J, Sepulveda Y, Smith AL, Rametta N, Sharma RN (2018) Giardiasis: Serum antibodies and coproantigens in brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) from Grenada, West Indies, Veterinary World, 11(3): 293-296.

Received: 08-12-2017 Accepted: 05-02-2018 Published online: 12-03-2018

Corresponding author: Ravindra Nath Sharma E-mail: rsharma@sgu.edu

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2018.293-296

Copyright: Tiwari, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.