Environmental and sociodemographic factors associated with zoonotic pathogen occurrence in Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) from Windsor, Ontario.

Autor: Robinson SJ; Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada., Pearl DL; Department of Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada., Himsworth CG; School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada., Weese JS; Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada., Lindsay LR; National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada., Dibernardo A; National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada., Huynh C; National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada., Hill JE; Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada., Fernando C; Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada., Jardine CM; Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.; Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Zoonoses and public health [Zoonoses Public Health] 2024 Jun; Vol. 71 (4), pp. 416-428. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Feb 28.
DOI: 10.1111/zph.13120
Abstrakt: Aims: Rat-associated zoonotic pathogen transmission at the human-wildlife interface is a public health concern in urban environments where Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) thrive on abundant anthropogenic resources and live in close contact with humans and other animal species. To identify potential factors influencing zoonotic pathogen occurrence in rats, we investigated associations between environmental and sociodemographic factors and Leptospira interrogans and Bartonella spp. infections in rats from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, while controlling for the potential confounding effects of animal characteristics (i.e., sexual maturity and body condition).
Methods and Results: Between November 2018 and June 2021, 252 rats were submitted by collaborating pest control professionals. Kidney and spleen samples were collected for L. interrogans and Bartonella spp. PCR and sequencing, respectively. Of the rats tested by PCR, 12.7% (32/252) were positive for L. interrogans and 16.3% (37/227) were positive for Bartonella species. Associations between infection status and environmental and sociodemographic variables of interest were assessed via mixed multivariable logistic regression models with a random intercept for social group and fixed effects to control for sexual maturity and body condition in each model. The odds of L. interrogans infection were significantly higher in rats from areas with high building density (odds ratio [OR]: 3.76; 95% CI: 1.31-10.79; p = 0.014), high human population density (OR: 3.31; 95% CI: 1.20-9.11; p = 0.021), high proportion of buildings built in 1960 or before (OR: 11.21; 95% CI: 2.06-60.89; p = 0.005), and a moderate number of reports of uncollected garbage compared to a low number of reports (OR: 4.88; 95% CI: 1.01-23.63; p = 0.049). A negative association was observed between median household income and Bartonella spp. infection in rats (OR: 0.26; 95% CI: 0.08-0.89; p = 0.031).
Conclusions: Due to the complexity of the ecology of rat-associated zoonoses, consideration of environmental and sociodemographic factors is of critical importance to better understand the nuances of host-pathogen systems and inform how urban rat surveillance and intervention efforts should be distributed within cities.
(© 2024 The Authors. Zoonoses and Public Health published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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