Diseases Transmitted by Man’s Worst Friend: the Rat

Abstract

Historically, the rat has been considered a scourge to mankind, for example, rats infected with the plague bacillus that caused the Black Death, which accounted for millions of deaths in Europe during the Middle Ages. At least three pandemics (in the 5th and 6th, 8th through 14th, and 19th through 21st centuries) of plague ravaged civilizations, and the disease undoubtedly plagued humankind prior to recorded history. Also, numerous other diseases are spread to humans by rats; thus, a quote from Hans Zinsser's text Rats, Lice, and History, "Man and rat will always be pitted against each other as implacable enemies," conveys the general revulsion that society holds for the wild rat.

Intestinal colonization of genotoxic Escherichia coli strains encoding colibactin and cytotoxic necrotizing factor in small mammal pets

“…Pet rats can transmit Streptobacillus moniliformis, the causative agent of rat bite fever. Human deaths due to S. moniliformis in adults and children with pet rats as well as pet store employees exposed to rats have been reported (Fox, 2015). Interestingly, the CDC has not reported outbreaks of E. coli from small mammal pets in the United States, although EHEC has been transmitted from rabbits to petting zoo visitors (Garcia et al, 2010).…”

Tick-Borne Zoonotic Diseases and Its Control

“…Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a systemic tick-borne illness is caused by an obligate intracellular bacterium Rickettsia rickettsii. This is associated with widespread infection of the vascular endothelial [71] Ticks carry zoonotic disease viruses from animals to humans and generate severe health-related consequences to man, livestock, dogs, sheep, cows, buffaloes, antelopes, horses, ferrets, and cats [72] (table 4).…”

Avaliação da administração oral do etano dimetanosulfato como uma alternativa quimioesterelizante para roedores

“…Responsáveis por perdas na produção de alimentos e danificação de máquinas e equipamentos, os ratos são considerados pragas urbanas e rurais por causarem impactos globais. Além de serem fontes de patógenos zoonóticos, capazes de ocasionar doenças como leptospirose, salmoneoses, peste bubônica, febre recorrente transmitida por carrapatos, entre outras capazes de impactar significativamente na saúde humana (HIMSWORTH et al, 2013;FOX, 2015;BARRAGAN et al, 2017).…”