Liver capillariasis (Calodium hepaticum) in rodents from Ituri (DRC) and Dakar (Senegal)

Human hepatic capillariosis due to Calodium hepaticum is rarely described in Africa, probably because of the lack of diagnosis tools. However, it is known that the animal reservoir is made up of rodents. During a study performed on 24 black rats (Rattus rattus) trapped in Rethy (CongoDR) and 20 Gambian pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus) in Dakar (Senegal), macroscopic and histological hepatic lesions of capillariosis were found in 8 of these rodents (3 in Rethy and 5 in Dakar). These results led us to propose, besides hygiene measures, an epidemiologic survey of this serious parasitosis, particularly in children, in the course of serological and/or coproscopic investigations.