Prevalence of <i>Giardia</i> in Nine Species of Wild Rodents in Guangxi, Hunan, and Yunan Provinces, China

<i>Giardia</i>, a flagellated protozoan, is widely distributed in wild rodents. To characterize the presence of <i>Giardia</i> in wild rodents in southern China, this study collected 344 fecal samples from wild rodents in Guangxi, Hunan, and Yunnan provinces. The β-giardin gene (<i>bg</i>) was amplified to identify the presence of <i>Giardia</i> sp. The results showed that 48 samples (13.95%, 48/344) tested positive for <i>Giardia</i>, including three positives for <i>G. duodenalis</i> (assemblage G <i>n</i> = 1, assemblage F <i>n</i> = 2) and 45 positives for <i>G. microti.</i> Among these, <i>Microtus fortis</i> had the highest prevalence at 30.22% (42/139), followed by <i>Apodemus agrarius</i> (7.14%, 3/42). <i>Rattus flavipectus</i> showed a prevalence of 2.56% (1/39), while <i>Bandicota indica</i> had a rate of 5.13% (2/39). The prevalence of <i>Giardia</i> in males (18.27%, 36/197) was slightly higher than in females (8.16%, 12/147). To the best of our knowledge, the present study reported the detection of assemblage F and assemblage G in <i>B. indica</i> for the first time. In addition, <i>G. microti</i> was found exclusively in <i>M. fortis</i> and a few <i>A. agrarius</i>. This study enriches the epidemiological data on <i>Giardia</i> in wild rodents and provides new insights for future research.