Gastrointestinal Parasites of the Ethiopian Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis, Pallas, 1766) in the North East Region of Ghana

Abstract

Wildlife may serve as potential reservoirs and intermediate or accidental hosts of zoonotic pathogens due to their interactions with human beings. For the first time in Ghana, we report extempore the gastrointestinal parasites of three Ethiopian rock hyraxes captured in September 2021. Forty adult parasites (21 nematodes and 19 tapeworms) were recovered from the gastrointestinal tracts of these three game hyraxes (Procavia capensis, Pallas, 1766) from the hills of Bimbagu (near the Gambaga Scarp) in the North East Region of Ghana. Adult worms comprising 16 tapeworms and 24 nematodes were identified. The intestinal faecal examination detected ova of Trichuris spp., tapeworms, and hookworms. The results are presented alongside the results of the molecular determination of the worm identities. Since wildlife has been identified as an important source of emerging human pathogens, including helminth parasites, there is an urgent need for sufficient literature on wildlife parasites in Ghana. As the rock hyrax is hunted for its meat, there is a potential risk of transmitting these identified helminths and other zoonotic pathogens to humans, especially involving people who handle the carcasses as the transmission is faecal-oral. A more precarious situation may arise when the eggs of cestodes are ingested by handlers of these carcasses and could result in cysticercosis/neuro-cysticercosis when these eggs cross the blood-brain barrier in the person.