Rodent-borne diseases and their risks for public health

Meerburg, B.G.; Singleton, Grant R.; Kijlstra, A.

doi:10.1080/10408410902989837

Cited by 823 publications

(813 citation statements)

References 568 publications

(457 reference statements)

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“…Such alteration to the host-parasite network may have consequences to the selection pressure imposed by parasites and to the evolution of MHC supertypes through indirect cascading effects. Because rodents are carriers of zoonotic parasites and pathogens 32,33 (Supplementary Table 3), the ecological-evolutionary dynamics between altered host-parasite interactions and MHC may have implications for risk of zoonotic diseases 34 . Indeed, the rapid evolutionary potential of both hosts and parasites 34 makes genetic change possible even on ecological timescales.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host–parasite network structure is associated with community-level immunogenetic diversity

et al. 2014

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Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) encode proteins that recognize foreign antigens and are thus crucial for immune response. In a population of a single host species, parasite-mediated selection drives MHC allelic diversity. However, in a community-wide context, species interactions may modulate selection regimes because the prevalence of a given parasite in a given host may depend on its prevalence in other hosts. By combining network analysis with immunogenetics, we show that host species infected by similar parasites harbour similar alleles with similar frequencies. We further show, using a Bayesian approach, that the probability of mutual occurrence of a functional allele and a parasite in a given host individual is nonrandom and depends on other host-parasite interactions, driving co-evolution within subgroups of parasite species and functional alleles. Therefore, indirect effects among hosts and parasites can shape host MHC diversity, scaling it from the population to the community level.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host–parasite network structure is associated with community-level immunogenetic diversity

et al. 2014

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“…34-100% crop damage; Odhiambo et al, 2005). Furthermore some rodent species act as reservoirs for various diseases which can influence public health (Meerburg et al, 2015;Monadjem et al, 2015). Therefore, controlling rodent pests has the potential to benefit both food security (Makundi and Massawe 2011), and human health (Munoz-Pedreros et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are avian predators effective biological control agents for rodent pest management in agricultural systems?

et al. 2016

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Worldwide rodent pests are of significant economic and health importance.Controlling rodent pests will, therefore, not only benefit food security, but also human and animal health. While rodent pests are most often chemically controlled, there is increased interest in biological control through avian predation. A rich body of research has addressed the impact of avian predators on wild rodent populations, but little is known about the effectiveness of avian predators as biological control agents of rodent pests in agricultural systems. In this study we systematically reviewed research that investigated different aspects of avian predation on rodent pest populations in order to increase our understanding of the impact and effectiveness of avian predation on rodent pests. Several avian predators (Tyto alba, Elanus axillaris Falco tinnunculus, F. cenchroides, Bubo bengalensis, Buteo rufinus) were commonly cited in the biological control of rodents; however, barn owls (T. alba) are the most cited species (86% of studies). We found some support that the use of avian predators produced positive, measurable effects where increased presence of avian predators tended to lower rodent pest numbers, resulting in lower crop damage. However, our review highlighted several shortcomings related to research on avian predation of rodent pests. First, research concerning rodent pest control through avian predation was limited (1.86 articles per year). Secondly we found that studies lack statistical rigor to detect and measure change in rodent pest species abundance. Finally, the majority of studies were short term and therefore not able to evaluate long term sustainable rodent pest population suppression. We suggest that current shortcomings could be adequately addressed with control-treatment studies that quantitatively investigate the effects of avian predation on rodent pest populations and agricultural impact.Such research could help develop recommendations regarding the use of avian predators in rodent pest management.

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“…While the spectrum of rodent-borne diseases and their risks for public health are well recognized and comprehensively reviewed, information on the role played by rats in the transmission and exchange of antimicrobial resistance among human, pets, livestock animals and the environment is unclear (Himsworth et al, 2013). It may be assumed that increases in urban rat populations, poverty, unhygienic food processing practices and poor access to clean water would facilitate the direct and indirect transmission of ratassociated bacteria, including antimicrobial-resistant isolates from rats to humans (Meerburg et al, 2009). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clonal diversity of CTX-M-producing, multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli from rodents

Lai

et al. 2015

Journal of Medical Microbiology

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This territory-wide study investigated the occurrence of faecal carriage of extended-spectrum blactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli among wild rodents from the 18 districts in Hong Kong. Individual rectal swabs were obtained from the trapped animals and cultured in plain and selective media. A total of 965 wild rodents [148 chestnut spiny rats (Niviventer fulvescens), 326 Indo-Chinese forest rats (Rattus andamanensis), 452 brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) and 39 black rats (Rattus rattus)] were sampled. ESBL carriage was 0 % in chestnut spiny rats, 0.6 % in Indo-Chinese forest rats, 7.7 % in black rats and 13.9 % in brown rats. Among brown rats, the prevalence of ESBL carriage differed markedly by geographical location: absent in two districts, low (7-10 %) in six districts, moderate (11-19 %) in seven districts and high (21-50 %) in three districts. Nonetheless, there was no correlation between the prevalence of ESBL in brown rats and human population density in the 18 districts. CTX-M-type enzymes were detected in 92.0 % of the ESBL-producing isolates, of which 83.1 % were resistant to three or more non-b-lactam drugs. The CTX-M producing isolates were genetically diverse but a large proportion (47.8 %) were included in six successful clones that are strongly associated with human diseases and CTX-M dissemination, viz. sequence type complex [STC]10/phylogroup A, STC23/phylogroup B1, STC38/phylogroup D, STC155/phylogroup B1, ST405/phylogroup D and ST131/ phylogroup B2. In conclusion, our results show that brown rats often carry potentially zoonotic clones of CTX-M producing, multidrug-resistant E. coli. The potential for rats to be a source of CTX-M producing E. coli for humans deserves further consideration.

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Rodent-borne diseases and their risks for public health

Cited by 823 publications

References 568 publications

Host–parasite network structure is associated with community-level immunogenetic diversity

Host–parasite network structure is associated with community-level immunogenetic diversity

Are avian predators effective biological control agents for rodent pest management in agricultural systems?

Clonal diversity of CTX-M-producing, multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli from rodents

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