Rodentborne fungal pathogens in wetland agroecosystem

• Autor(a) principal: Thomas,Manuel
• Data de Publicação: 2012
• Outros Autores: Samuel K,Abraham, Kurian,Punnen
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Brazilian Journal of Microbiology
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1517-83822012000100028
• topic: Rodents; Vembanadu-Kol wetland; Fungi; Agroecosystem

The past few decades have witnessed an overwhelming increase in the incidence of fungal infections, particularly in immunocompromised individuals. Consequently, zoonotic diseases, especially through rodents constitute a prominent group among the emerging diseases. Rodents are commensal to man and related health risks are common. Water rats (Rattus norvegicus) are typical to Vembanadu-Kol wetland agroecosystems, where they can act as a good carrier nexus for pathogens. The present study evaluates the carrier status of water rats with respect to fungal pathogens. A total of fifty two fungi covering eighteen families were isolated. Among the isolates, eight were dermaptophytes and Chrysosporium sp. (89.18%) was the frequent isolate. The source-wise analyses showed an increased isolation from ventral hair (67 isolates). Water rats of Vembanadu-Kol wetland agroecosystem are potent carrier of dermaptophytes and other opportunistic fungi, and strong carrier paths are existing too.