BDV3701

WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT

INTERACTION BETWEEN ECTOPARASITES AND SMALL MAMMALS

PBL REPORT
GROUP 2
Group member:
NAME
NOR SHAHIDA BINTI ABDULLAH (CHAIRPERSON)
NUR ATIEKAH BINTI AZAHARI (SPOKEPERSON)
NURUL ADHA BINTI UJANG (DATA COLLECTOR)
NURUL NADRAH BINTI MOHD ZABIDI (SCRIBER)
NUR HAFIZAH BINTI ABDUL WAHAB (DATA INTEGRATOR AND SLIDE MAKER)

UK NUMBER
UK28915
UK28969
UK28913
UK28955
UK28933

INTRODUCTION
Ectoparasites plays a significant role in the transmission of various diseases and considered a
main vector of zoonotic diseases (Madinah et al., 2011). Rodents acts as reservoir of diseases
(Sonenshine, 1993).

Ectoparasites of rodents are important vectors of pathogenic

microorganisms and for parasitic zoonoses (Singleton et al., 2003). Ectoparasites from rodents
are classified into five main groups, Mesostigmata (mites), Prostigmata (chiggers), Acarina
(ticks), Phthiraptera (louse) and Siphonaptera (fleas) (Paramasvaran et al., 2009). Moreover, the
parasites can give an impact on individuals through reduced ability to forage, defend territory,
defend against predation, affect immunological response, and can slowing the growth (Moree,
2012). The presence of the ectoparasites of small mammal will give a potential health risk.
(Madinah et al., 2011).
There are several study on ectoparasites was conducted in Malaysia. Such as, the ticks that have
been identified on Sundamys muelleri, Leopoldamys sabanus, Maxomys whiteheadi, and Rattus
tiomanicus was Ixodes granulates (Mariana et al., 2008).

There are three genera of ticks that

transmitting rickettsial disease in Malaysia which are Ixodes, Dermacentor , Haemaphysalis and
a species, Ixodes granulatus (Nadchatram, 2008). The common host for Ixodes granulates is
rodents and it is also known as a vector of Langat Virus (Mariana et al., 2008 ; Smith, 1956).
In this report, it give an insight about the ectoparasites community and it will briefly provided
some information about the ecolody of these ectoparasites, its relationship with small mammals.
This report would also provide an overview on the diseases related to the ectoparasites and small
mammals relationships and the management of these ectoparasites.

ECOLOGY OF ECTOPARASITES
Ectoparasites are those species that spend much of their adult lives in close association with the
habitat created by the skin and its outgrowths of mammals with the host's nest. According to
Hanafi-Bojd et al. (2007), ectoparasites are a diverse and highly adapted group of animals that
infest the external body surface of vertebrates. However, rodents and scandents are hosts to many
ectoparasites and a single host can carry many different species of Acari and Insecta (Nava et al.
2003; Nadchatram 2008). Ectoparasites from rodents and scandents can be classified into five
main groups, namely, Mesostigmata (mites), Acarina (ticks), Prostigmata (chiggers), Phthiraptera
(lice) and Siphonaptera (fleas) (Paramasvaran et al. 2009). Bittencourt & Rocha (2003) reported
that some ectoparasites are host specific and can only be found on certain rodents and scandents
while others are generalist.

Mesostigmata (mites)
Habitat: Found in damp litter, or littoral and riparian vegetation, along lake and stream margins.
Feeding ecology: Predators on other mites, Dipteran larvae, nematodes and insect eggs
Habit: Mesostigmata mites can remain submerged a long time.
Life cycle: Females can lay approximately 43 eggs in 17 days. After three to four weeks, egg
production declines and the females die. Females may develop from egg to adult in 11-15 days.
The pre-oviposition period is 2-3 days.
Acarina (ticks)
Habitat: Found in second growth woodland habitats that have populations of white-tailed deer.
Feeding ecology: Feed on the blood of mammals, birds and reptiles.
Life cycle: The complete life cycle can take up to a year to complete. The adult female lays only
one batch of eggs, as many as 3000, and then dies. The male tick feeds very little and tends to
stay with larger hosts so it can mate with the adult female tick. The male dies once it has
reproduced.
Prostigmata (chiggers)
Feeding ecology: Feed on the fluids in skin cells
Life cycle: Begin as eggs, hatch as larvae, develop into nymphs and finally become adults
Phthiraptera (lice)
Feeding ecology: Sucking blood in rats
Life cycle: Spend their entire life cycle, approximately 14 to 21 days, from egg to nymph to
adult on the host. They obtain nutrition by sucking blood, which in turn can cause anaemia to the
rat.
Siphonaptera (fleas)
Habitat: Adults are found on or near host but will leave out a dead host shortly after death and
search for another; larvae are found in nest or bedding of host.
Feeding ecology: Adults feed on the blood of mammals (~90%) and birds (~10%); larvae, on
organic debris, including adult flea faeces (which contain undigested blood), and dead mites.

Life cycle: The life cycle can be completed in less than a month. Eggs are laid in the host nest
usually hatching in 7 to 14 days. Adults may live for two years or more and can survive for
weeks or months without a blood meal.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECTOPARASITE AND SMALL MAMMALS.

A habitat patch for a parasite is its host that provides them to live, foraging and mating. The
parasite distributed across the host body and the particular species can be considered as the
habitat of the parasite. Habitat (host) of ectoparasite is differ with the free living habitat where
the host of ectoparasite can defend themselves againts exploiters and host can decline in number
if the negative impact of the ectoparasite is too heavy ( Krasnov et al. ,2004)
The distribution pattern of the ectoparasite on the host which is in this case the small mammals is
the result of interaction between the ectoparasite and the small mammals. Different ectoparasitic
species occur on different areas on the small mammal such as chiggers in the ear muzzle, ticks
on the ears and other parts of the head, fleas and lice on the back and most gamasid mites on the
posterior part of the small mammal body. This is affected by the mechanical interference of the
host. For an example, ticks and chiggers usually attach at the part of the head of small mammals
that unreachable for direct predation of the small mammal. This strategy is to make sure they can
attach to the body of their host longer and get their need such as food.
Besides, the distribution also differ in term of time or space. In one research, found that a
species such as Laelaps agilis (C. L. Koch) and Haemogamasusn idi Michael are most frequently
found within a restricted area on the host, but differ in their seasonal occurrence. In other
combinations of species, such as in fleas, there are marked differentiation in body areas used
(Nilsson, 1981). This may happen to avoid the interspecific competition of the ectoparasites.
The species of ectoparasite that mating on their host, prefer to live only in small area which is
give advantages to them. Live in a small areas on the small mammal body, increase the chance to
the male to find female as the female only present on the host for a few days (Nilsson, 1981).

As the conclusion, there are relationship between the ectoparasite and the small mammals. The
ectoparasite have their strategies to live on the small mammals and thus they can live longer on
their host for living, foraging and also for mating.

DISEASES RELATED TO ECTOPARASITES (INTERACTION OF ECTOPARASITE

AND MAMMALS)
There are some reasonable number of case reports on diseases that emerge by the presence of
ectoparasites that eventually infect mammals. Ectoparasites such as flea, tick, and lice can
become a vector for a disease to generate and start to become harmful the host. Cat scratch
disease (CSD) and also known as cat scratch fever is one of the disease that infect mammals
which arise from genus Bartonella ectoparasites. Bartonella are intracellular parasites that
generally show preference for erythrocytes and endothelial cells. The organisms are found in a
wide range of both wild and domestic mammals, including cattle, rodents, dogs and cats. Pets,
especially cats, represent a large reservoir for human infection (Lamas et al., 2008). The various
Bartonella species appear to be adapted to specific hosts. Cats are the main reservoir for B.
henselae, which causes approximately 20,000 reported cases of cat scratch disease per year in the
United States. Bartonella are also found in numerous arthropods, including fleas, biting flies, lice
and ticks.
The other diseases that infect mammals is Lyme disease which were the most common vectorborne disease in the United States. According to Shapiro (2014), in the United States, the
spirochete B. burgdorferi is the only zoonotic pathogen that causes Lyme disease. However, in
Europe and Asia, Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia garinii, and other related species, in addition to B
burgdorferi, cause Lyme disease. In the United States, these bacteria are transmitted by hardbodied ticks, including Ixodes scapularis (the black-legged tick, commonly called a deer tick) in
the East and Midwest and Ixodes pacificus (the western black-legged tick) on the Pacific Coast.
Ixodes ricinus (the sheep tick) and Ixodes persulcatus (the taiga tick) are the vectors in Europe
and Asia, respectively.
Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), a classic metazoonosis that involves mammals as
reservoir hosts, is a seasonal disease of dogs and humans in the Americas (Warner, 2002). In

1904, Louis B Wilson and William M Chowning studied records of 126 cases of RMSF and
concluded that wood ticks (genus Dermacentor) were responsible for transmitting the infection.
12 In 1906, Dermacentor spp ticks were categorically implicated in the transmission of the agent
of RMSF, which was unnamed at that time. 13 and 14. From 1906 to 1910, Howard T Ricketts
isolated the pathogen and showed that it circulated among ticks and mammals in the wild. He
also showed that infected ticks could transmit the disease transovarially to their offspring.
The association between ectoparasites and small mammals in Malaysia generally lags behind
when it comes to ecological network structures of parasitic or mutualistic interactions (Wells et
al. 2011). Previous research concentrated on the descriptions of hosts and their ectoparasite
species and taxonomic studies in relation to medical and veterinary importance, with little
published information on the host-ectoparasite relationship in Malaysia.

MANAGEMENT OF ECTOPARASITES.
For the management of ectoparasites, much of the literature mainly focus on the control of
ectoparasites which infecting the livestock. Not much literature focusing on the small mammals
which causes diseases which can infect human such as the Typhus fever. However there are some
new approaches which have been suggested for the control and management of ectoparasites.
Wall (2003), suggested 3 approaches for the control of ectoparasites; biological control, off - host
trapping and targeting the susceptible individual.
For biological control, the use of pathogen, virus, bacteria, fungi and nematodes were included.
There were some experiment that show some mortality in ectoparasites by using this method. For
example the use of bacteria in prevention of blow strike and lice of poultry and also the use of
fungal pathogens to treat Ixodes granulates.
Off host control involves using the non return traps, targets, and baits for ectoparasites which
mainly on insects. However, for traps and targets it usually used as monitoring tools due to high
population of ectoparasites. This method somehow focused on the killing of female
(ectoparasites) in order to reduce the population.

Lastly, an approach in targeting and identifying for susceptible individuals are using the concept
and relationship between the host and the ectoparasites. It is note that majority of host carry a
small population of parasites and only a few number of host carry heavy burden of ectoparasites.
Selective control and treatment was done only to these highly infested host individuals with an
idea that if these host can be treated, thus other host with low abundance of ectoparasites can also
be treated. This method are more focusing to provide a cost effective solution.
Besides on the method on the control of ectoparasites, new approach on the management of
microhabitat of host and ectoparasites also should be highlighted as their population mainly
depend on it.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

The global climate that causes by rapid environmental degradation may alter
the ecology of the rodents that will increase the transmission of diseases
(Paramasvaran et al., 2009). Because of that, conservation and management
of the microhabitat for the host of ectoparasites should be done to reduce
the transmission of the diseases by ectoparasites. Besides, the research on
the association of ectoparasites and their host should be conduct in Malaysia
to increase the knowledge about the disease transmission. The researcher
also must be focused more on the diversity of the ectoparasites to
investigate the abundance of ectoparasites in Malaysia.

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