A survey on intestinal parasites in Swiss Webster mice

Background and

Nowadays the laboratory mice are frequently used in basic science research. However، these animals may be infected with some pathogens as parasites. The study of parasites infecting laboratory mice is important on account of two reasons: 1) zoonotic agents and 2) interference with the results of some studies such as immunology and pharmacology. Thus، we carried out this study to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites، particularly zoonoses، in Swiss-Webster mice.

In this study، fifty Swiss-Webster mice were randomly purchased from Pasteur Institute of Iran (Amol branch). After euthanizing the mice، their intestinal contents were separately examined using standard parasitological methods.

The results showed that thirty-seven mice (74%) were infected with at least one parasite. The highest prevalence (83. 78%) was with Rodentolepis nana and the lowest (2. 7%) with Blastocystis sp. This is the first report of natural infection with Blastocystis sp. in laboratory mice. Moreover، our results indicated a high prevalence of two zoonotic parasites in laboratory mice: Rodentolepis nana (83. 78%) and Giardia muris (27. 01%).

Considering the existence of zoonotic parasites in the mice and the interference of these parasites with some studies، it is necessary for those dealing with these animals to attend to the principles of the Good Laboratory Practice (GLP).