Detection of <i>Leptospira</i> in Urban Swedish Rats: Pest Control Interventions as a Promising Source of Rats Used for Surveillance

Strand, Tanja M.; Pineda, Sebastian; Backhans, Annette; Jakobsen, Frida; Råsbäck, Thérése; Lõhmus, Mare; Järhult, Josef D.; Lundkvist, Åke

doi:10.1089/vbz.2017.2262

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Pest control interventions offer a means to determine prevalence of rats 36 . Thus, we also created an industry survey with the help of industry professionals (Appendix A).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Rats and the COVID-19 pandemic: Early data on the global emergence of rats in response to social distancing

Parsons

Kiyokawa

Richardson

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Following widespread closures of food-related businesses due to efforts to curtail the spread of SARS-CoV-2, public health authorities reported increased sightings of rats in close vicinity of people. Because rats vector a number of pathogens transmissible to people, changes in their behavior has consequences for human health risks. To determine the extent of how stay-at-home measures influenced patterns of rat sightings we: 1) examined the number of rat-related public service requests before and during the period of lockdown in New York City (NYC) and Tokyo, Japan; 2) examined reports made in proximity to closed food service establishments in NYC; and 3) surveyed pest control companies in the United States, Canada, Japan, and Poland. During the month following lockdown, the overall number of reports decreased by 30% in NYC, while increasing 24% in Tokyo. However, new hotspots of 311 calls were observed in proximity of closed food service establishments in NYC; and there was a consistent positive association between kernel density estimates of food service establishments and location of 311 calls (r = 0.33 to 0.45). Similarly, more reports were observed in the restaurant-dense eastern side of Tokyo. Changes in clientele for pest control companies varied geographically, with 37% of pest-management companies surveyed in North America reporting 50-100% of their post-lockdown rat-related requests coming from new clients. In Warsaw, where there are no clusters of restaurants in densely-populated areas, there were no changes. In Tokyo, there were no changes in clients. We conclude that changes in public service calls are region-specific and localized, with increases in rat sightings more likely near restaurant-dense regions. Pest control companies surveyed in North America either lost much of their business or shifted clientele from old to new locations. We discuss possible mitigation measures including ramping up pest control during re-opening of food-related establishments and the need for citywide rodent surveillance and disease monitoring.

show abstract

“…Pest control interventions offer a means to determine prevalence of rats 36 . Thus, we also created an industry survey with the help of industry professionals (Appendix A).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Calls to 311 are free to report. Calls reported to pest management companies 36 on the other hand, convey an added sense of urgency as they carry a monetary expense. Due to detailed, publicly available data for the city, we were also able to examine food availability for rats in the form of restaurants and food carts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rats and the COVID-19 pandemic: Early data on the global emergence of rats in response to social distancing

Parsons

Kiyokawa

Richardson

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As an alternative, a minority of studies have used rats collected by pest control professionals (Franssen et al., 2016; Grandemange et al., 2010; Meerburg et al., 2014; Murray et al., 2018; Purcell et al., 2011), and even fewer have attempted to use rats collected through lethal rat control for the purpose of zoonotic pathogen surveillance (Heuser et al., 2017; Runge et al., 2013; Strand et al., 2015; Wolf et al., 2013). A recent study demonstrated that it is feasible to use rat carcasses obtained from pest control interventions for Leptospira screening (Strand et al., 2019); however, it is unclear whether rats collected for the purpose of pest control are of suitable quality for screening a range of zoonotic pathogens and representative of rat populations in urban areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the utility of pest control sourced rats for zoonotic pathogen surveillance

Robinson

Finer

Himsworth

et al. 2022

Zoonoses and Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) inhabit cities worldwide and live in close association with humans. Studies of urban rat zoonoses often rely on live‐trapping, with fewer studies using rats sourced through lethal pest control interventions. Our objectives were to evaluate the utility of rats collected by pest control professionals for zoonotic pathogen surveillance and determine whether we could detect Leptospira interrogans and Streptobacillus moniliformis in pest control sourced rats. Rat carcasses were submitted from Windsor, Canada by pest control professionals between November 2018 and March 2020. Submissions were categorized by season and land use. Necropsies were performed to classify carcass quality, collect tissue samples, and record demographic data. The association between carcass quality and the ability to collect tissue samples for pathogen surveillance was assessed via an exact logistic regression model. Using PCR, a subset of kidney and spleen samples were tested for L. interrogans and S. moniliformis, respectively. Our sample of pest control sourced rats had similar sex and age distributions to those of live‐trapping studies. Rats were primarily submitted from residential and industrial locations during fall, winter, and spring, which may reflect pest control service areas and peak business periods, rather than rat distribution. Of 124 submissions, 98 (79.0%) of rats showed only mild decomposition. The odds of collecting all tissue samples were reduced for fair compared to good‐quality carcasses (OR: 0.029; 95% CI: 0–0.25; p = .0009) and for poor compared to fair‐quality carcasses (OR: 0.048; 95% CI: 0.00085–0.53; p = .0065). Leptospira interrogans and S. moniliformis were detected in 9.1% (4/44) and 27.3% (15/55) of a subset of rats tested, respectively. Our results suggest that pest control sourced rats are suitable for surveillance for multiple zoonotic pathogens in urban environments. This method of rat collection may provide preliminary information to guide more detailed ecological studies.

show abstract

“…Rats in Sweden are confirmed to be reservoirs of L. Icterohaemmorhagiae, which is a serovar that commonly infects dogs in Europe [ 8 , 13 ]. Moreover, the Swedish rat population is growing, which could contribute to an increased risk of environmental exposure of Leptospira [ 14 ]. The seroprevalence of Leptospira is not known in Swedish dogs, and surveillance has been encouraged to assess appropriate vaccination strategies [ 8 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leptospira seroprevalence and associated risk factors in healthy Swedish dogs

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Leptospirosis is an emerging zoonotic infection worldwide and a cause of life-threatening disease in dogs. Seroprevalence in Swedish dogs is unknown. The aims of the present study were to estimate seroprevalence of pathogenic Leptospira in healthy dogs in Sweden using the microagglutination test (MAT) and a rapid point-of-care enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and to evaluate risk factors of Leptospira exposure in Swedish dogs. Results Positive MAT titres (≥ 1:50) were detected in 27/369 (7.3%) of included dogs. Five different serovars were represented of which the Saxkoebing serovar was the most common (64.3%), followed by Copenhagi (14.3%), Bratislava (10.7%), Icterohaemorrhagiae (7.1%), and Canicola (3.6%). The ELISA test (SNAP® Lepto) was positive in 3/316 (0.9%) dogs. Living in urban areas and contact with stagnant water were found to be risk factors for Leptospira seropositivity (p < 0.05) in a multivariable logistic regression model. Conclusion In this first seroprevalence study of Leptospira in Swedish dogs, it was shown that healthy dogs without recent (24 months) travel history and antileptospira vaccination had been exposed to pathogenic Leptospira interrogans serovars. Contact with stagnant water and living in urban areas were independent risk factors for seropositivity.

show abstract

Detection of Leptospira in Urban Swedish Rats: Pest Control Interventions as a Promising Source of Rats Used for Surveillance

Cited by 9 publications

References 26 publications

Rats and the COVID-19 pandemic: Early data on the global emergence of rats in response to social distancing

Rats and the COVID-19 pandemic: Early data on the global emergence of rats in response to social distancing

Evaluating the utility of pest control sourced rats for zoonotic pathogen surveillance

Leptospira seroprevalence and associated risk factors in healthy Swedish dogs

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About