Parasite Fauna and Coinfections in Urban Rats Naturally Infected by the Zoonotic Parasite .

When the zoonotic parasite of rodents that can cause human neuroangiostrongyliasis, i.e., is found in its natural definitive hosts, it is usually reported in isolation, as if the rat lungworm were the only component of its parasite community. In this study, we report the coinfections found in rats naturally infected by in urban populations of and in Valencia, Spain. In addition to the rat lungworms, which were found in 14 of the 125 rats studied (a prevalence of 11.20%), 18 other parasite species (intestinal and tissular protists, microsporidia and helminths) were found, some of them with high burdens. Fourteen of these nineteen species found are potential zoonotic parasites, namely , , spp., , , , spp., larvae, , , , , and . The total predominance of coinfected rats as well as their high parasite loads seem to indicate a trend towards parasite tolerance.