Abstract
A study of the internal and external parasites infections of the African giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus) was undertaken using standard parasitological methods. Of the 100 wild giant rats captured, 22(43.14%) males and 16(32.65%) females harboured gastrointestinal parasites. Similarly, 14(31.11%) juveniles and 24(43.64%) adults were also infected. Thevarious species of gastrointestinal parasites recovered from the giant rats at post-mortem were Hymenolepis nana 19(50%), Ancylostoma caninum 4(10.53%), Strongyloides stercoralis 7(18.42%), Aspicularis tetraptera 5(13.16%) and Taenia cysts 3(7.89%). The post-mortem worm counts showed that Hymenolepis nana had the highest burden than the otherhelminths. At the same time, 12(23.53%) males, 10(20.41) females, 14(31.11%) juveniles and 8(14.55%) adults also harboured various degree of ectoparasitic infestations. No statistical variation was observed on the prevalence of ectoparasitic infestations according to sex (p>0.05) however, juveniles 14(31.11%) were significantly (P
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