Ectoparasite fauna of rodents collected from two wildlife research centres in Saudi Arabia with discussion on the implications for disease transmission

The majority of human pathogens are zoonotic and rodents play an important role as reservoirs of many of these infectious agents. In the case of vector-borne pathogens, rodent reservoirs not only act as a source of infection for vectors but also serve as hosts for the vectors themselves, supporting their populations. Current data on rodent-ectoparasite relationships is limited in Saudi Arabia, however, this is needed to assess disease risk and the relative importance of different hosts for the maintenance of vector-borne pathogen cycles. In order to provide baseline data for the region that could be used to assess zoonotic disease risk, we collected and identified 771 ectoparasite specimens (ticks, fleas and mites) from 161 rodents at two wildlife research centres in Saudi Arabia and discuss our results in the context of possible zoonotic disease risk based on the hosts and vectors present.