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Awoniyi AM, Barreto AM, Argibay HD, Santana JO, Palma FAG, Riviere-Cinnamond A, Dobigny G, Bertherat E, Ferguson L, Belmain S, Costa F. Systematic surveillance tools to reduce rodent pests in disadvantaged urban areas can empower communities and improve public health. Sci Rep 2024; 14:4503. [PMID: 38402250 PMCID: PMC10894258 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-55203-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Rodents are notorious pests, known for transmitting major public health diseases and causing agricultural and economic losses. The lack of site-specific and national standardised rodent surveillance in several disadvantaged communities has rendered interventions targeted towards rodent control as often ineffective. Here, by using the example from a pilot case-study in the Bahamas, we present a unique experience wherein, through multidisciplinary and community engagement, we simultaneously developed a standardised national surveillance protocol, and performed two parallel but integrated activities: (1) eight days of theoretical and practical training of selected participants; and (2) a three-month post-training pilot rodent surveillance in the urban community of Over-the-Hill, Nassau, The Bahamas. To account for social and environmental conditions influencing rodent proliferation in the Bahamas, we engaged selected influential community members through a semi-structured interview and gathered additional site-specific information using a modified Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) exterior and interior rodent evaluation form, along with other validated instruments such as tracking plates and snap trapping, to test and establish a standardised site-specific rodent surveillance protocol tailored for the Bahamas. Our engagement with community members highlighted poor disposal of animal and human food, irregular garbage collection, unapproved refuse storage, lack of accessible dumpsters, poor bulk waste management, ownership problems and structural deficiencies as major factors fuelling rodent proliferation in the study areas. Accordingly, results from our pilot survey using active rodent signs (that is, the presence of rodent runs, burrows, faecal material or gnawed material) as a proxy of rodent infestation in a generalized linear model confirmed that the variables earlier identified during the community engagement program as significantly correlated with rodent activities (and capturing) across the study areas. The successful implementation of the novel site-specific protocol by trained participants, along with the correlation of their findings with those recorded during the community engagement program, underscores its suitability and applicability in disadvantaged urban settings. This experience should serve as a reference for promoting a standardised protocol for monitoring rodent activities in many disadvantaged urban settings of the Global South, while also fostering a holistic understanding of rodent proliferation. Through this pilot case-study, we advocate for the feasibility of developing sustainable rodent control interventions that are acceptable to both local communities and public authorities, particularly through the involvement of a multidisciplinary team of professionals and community members.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adedayo Michael Awoniyi
- Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, 40110-040, Brazil.
- Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, 40170-115, Brazil.
| | - Ana Maria Barreto
- Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, 40170-115, Brazil
| | - Hernan Dario Argibay
- Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, 40110-040, Brazil
| | | | | | - Ana Riviere-Cinnamond
- Data Management, Analytics and Products (DMAP), Health Information and Risk Assessment Unit (HIM), PAHO Health Emergencies, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Gauthier Dobigny
- French Institute of Research for Sustainable Development (IRD), UMR CBGP, Montpellier, France
- Pasteur Institute of Madagascar, Plague Unit, Antananarivo, Madagascar
| | - Eric Bertherat
- Department of Pandemic and Epidemic Diseases, World Health Organization WHO, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Luther Ferguson
- Department of Environmental Health Services (DEHS), Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Nassau City, Bahamas
| | - Steven Belmain
- Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Chatham Maritime, Kent, ME4 4TB, UK
| | - Federico Costa
- Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, 40110-040, Brazil.
- Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, 40170-115, Brazil.
- Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT06511, USA.
- Lancaster Medical School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YW, UK.
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Singleton GR, Hinds LA, Makundi R, Belmain SR. Rodent biology and ecologically based rodent management (EBRM)-25 years of progress through promoting multidisciplinary research. Integr Zool 2024; 19:2-7. [PMID: 38061879 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2024]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Lyn A Hinds
- CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Rhodes Makundi
- African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Rodent Pest Management and Biosensor Technology Development, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
- Institute of Pest Management, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
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Olivieri NR, Othman L, Gordon SM. Health disparities revealed in a case of congenital LCMV. Pediatr Res 2024; 95:579-580. [PMID: 37542168 DOI: 10.1038/s41390-023-02772-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Natalie R Olivieri
- Division of Neonatology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Loui Othman
- Division of Neonatology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Scott M Gordon
- Division of Neonatology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
- Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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Kuenzi AJ, Luis AD. Food availability leads to more connected contact networks among peridomestic zoonotic reservoir hosts. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230809. [PMID: 38026027 PMCID: PMC10646467 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
The North American deermouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) is a reservoir host for many zoonotic pathogens. Deermice have been well studied, but few studies have attempted to understand social interactions within the species despite these interactions being key to understanding disease transmission. We performed an experiment to determine if supplemental food or nesting material affected social interactions of deermice and tested if interactions increased with increasing population density. We constructed three simulated buildings that received one of three treatments: food, nesting material, or control. Mice were tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags, and their movement in and out of buildings was monitored with PIT tag readers. PIT tag readings were used to create contact networks, assuming a contact if two deermice were in the same building at the same time. We found that buildings with food led to contact networks that were approximately 10 times more connected than buildings with nesting material or control buildings. We also saw a significant effect of population density on the average number of contacts per individual. These results suggest that food supplementation which is common in peridomestic settings, can significantly increase contacts between reservoir hosts, potentially leading to increased transmission of zoonotic viruses within the reservoir host and from reservoir hosts to humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy J. Kuenzi
- Department of Biology, Montana Technological University, 1300 Park Street, Butte, MT 59701, USA
| | - Angela D. Luis
- Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA
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