Ecto- and blood parasites affecting Meriones rex trapped in Najran, Saudi Arabia.

Meriones rex or king jird is endemic to Arabia, confined to the south-west of the peninsula. Examination of 25 jirds for arthropod-ectoparasites showed Xenopsylla astia, Ctenocephalides arabicus, Ornithonyssus bacoti and tick nymphs with indices of 0.6, 1.6, 0.64 and 0.24 respectively. The ectoparasites were more on female jirds than on males with indices of 3.8 and 2.0 respectively. Indirect haemagglutination tests for anti-Toxoplsama and anti-Leishmania antibodies showed positive reactions in 5 (20.0%) and 2 (8.0%) jirds respectively. However, neither skin lesion nor protozoal parasites were detected in tissue smears of liver and spleen. The ectoparasites encountered and the sero-positive reactions to Toxoplasma and Leishmania denote that the king jird, Meriones rex is of some medical and veterinary importance.