© The Author(s). 2021 Open Access This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. A BSTRACT The present morphometric coproscopic study was aimed to investigate the protozoan infections in synanthropic rodents of urban areas from Punjab. Faecal samples of total 65 rodents of two species i.e. the house rat, Rattus rattus (n=40) and the lesser bandicoot rat, Bandicota bengalensis (n=25) collected from residences/shops, poultry farms and fish market at Ludhiana (Punjab), India were examined by formaldehyde–ether sedimentation and modified kinyoun acid fast stain for the presence of protozoan parasites. Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected in 32.30% rats comprising 36% B. bengalensis and 30% R. rattus. Morphometric examination of the acid-fast stained faecal smear revealed ovoid oocysts (average size of 7.70-9.8 x 5.5-7.0 μm) of Cryptosporidium whose morphology resembled that of C. muris. Precysts/cysts of Giardia sp. were also identified in 4.61% of the stained faecal smears. This is the first report of concurrent C. muris and Giardia sp. infections in synanthropic rodents of urban domestic and peridomestic area of Punjab, India. Keywords: Coproscopic, Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Protozoans, Synanthropic rodents. Ind J Vet Sci and Biotech (2021): 10.21887/ijvsbt.17.1.11 Concurrent infection of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in synanthropic rodents: First report from Punjab, India Sukhmanpreet Kaur Brar 1 , Neena Singla 1* , Lachhman Das Singla 2 I NTRODUCTION C ryptosporidium and Giardia are two genera of parasitic protozoa capable of infecting humans and a wide variety of animal species, including pets and wildlife (Brar et al., 2017). Wildlife has received the least attention of these possible sources of pathogens and the risk posed by these populations to public health is not well understood. Rodents are considered as a major risk factor for public health by serving as a source of pathogens in the environment via leading to contamination of food, water and soil (Singla et al., 2008; Perec-Matysiak et al. 2015). Cryptosporidium is an intracellular extra-cytoplasmic apicomplexan gastrointestinal coccidian pathogen of humans and animals having C. parvum, C. hominis, C. muris as important zoonotic species. Giardia responsible for gastrointestinal giardiosis exists in two forms i.e. actively multiplying pathogenic trophozoite form and infective cyst form (Sursal and Yildiz, 2020). Certain species of Giardia (Giardia muris, G. duodenalis and G. microti) harboured by rodents are vulnerable to humans and a wide variety of mammalian species (Helmy et al., 2018). Worldwide, several studies have detected individual infections of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in rodents (Lv et al., 2009; Perec-Matysiak et al., 2015). Epidemiological studies concerning these pathogens in wild rodents, apart from the possible risk of infection, have not been detailed due to their low economic value and the difficulty in carrying out surveys. The role of wild rats as the zoonotic reservoir of Cryptosporidium and Giardia species has not been examined so far in Punjab, India, especially in the context of urban areas. In view of the above facts the present study was undertaken. RESEARCH ARTICLE 1 Department of Zoology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004, Punjab 2 Department of Veterinary Parasitology, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana-141004, Punjab Corresponding Author: Dr. Neena Singla, Principal Zoologist (Ro- dents) & Head, Department of Zoology, Punjab Agricultural Univer- sity, Ludhiana-141004, Punjab, e-mail: neenasingla1@gmail.com, neenasingla@pau.edu How to cite this article: Brar, S.K., Singla, N., Singla, L.D. (2021). Concurrent infection of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in synanthropic rodents: First report from Punjab, India. Ind J Vet Sci and Biotech, 17(1): 45-47. Source of support: Nil Conflict of interest: None. Submitted: 23/11/2020 Accepted: 23/02/2021 Published: 25/03/2021 M ATERIALS AND M ETHODS Collection of animals A total of 65 rodents were live trapped from different urban areas including residences/shops (street food shops, flour mills, grocery shops etc.), poultry farms and fish market in Ludhiana city of Punjab, India using baited single- and multi-catch rat traps. In the laboratory, rodent species were identified (Singla et al., 2015) and kept individually in laboratory cages for faecal examination. Approval from Institutional Animal Ethics Committee for use of animals was obtained vide memo no. IAEC/2018/1153-1188 under protocol no.GADVASU/2018/IAEC/46/16.