Rodent-borne diseases and their risks for public health

2009/06/23 by B.G. Meerburg, Grant R. Singleton, Aize Kijlstra · 7 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Medicine · #Biology #Disease #Ecology #Environmental health #Human health #Medicine #Pathology #Plague (disease) #Public health #Rodent #Viral Infections and Vectors #Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research #Zoology #Zoonotic disease #Zoonotic diseases and public health

paper · doi:10.1080/10408410902989837

openalex publication_date 2009/06/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Rodents are the most abundant and diversified order of living mammals in the world. Already since the Middle Ages we know that they can contribute to human disease, as black rats were associated with distribution of plague. However, also in modern times rodents form a threat for public health. In this review article a large number of pathogens that are directly or indirectly transmitted by rodents are described. Moreover, a simplified rodent disease model is discussed.

Citations

• Plague in the United States: the “Black Death” is still alive
• Australian ecosystems, capricious food chains and parasitic consequences for people
• Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome Outbreak in Argentina: Molecular Evidence for Person-to-Person Transmission of Andes Virus
• Treatment of Plague with Gentamicin or Doxycycline in a Randomized Clinical Trial in Tanzania
• Development of a New Vaccine for the Prevention of Lassa Fever
• Disruption of a host-parasite system following the introduction of an exotic host species
• Rat Bite Fever andStreptobacillus moniliformis
• Biodiversity series: The function of biodiversity in the ecology of vector-borne zoonotic diseases
• The biology of Giardia spp.
• Foot-and-mouth disease in the brown rat
• The Year of the Rat ends—time to fight hunger!
• The abundance threshold for plague as a critical percolation phenomenon
• Q fever (Coxiella burnetii) reservoir in wild brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) populations in the UK

Cited by

• Spatial variation in the parasite communities and genomic structure of urban rats in New York City
• Aboriginal and Invasive Rats of Genus Rattus as Hosts of Infectious Agents
• Multiple Geographic Origins of Commensalism and Complex Dispersal History of Black Rats
• Black rat [wikipedia]
• Brown rat [wikipedia]
• Mouse [wikipedia]
• Rat [wikipedia]

Related

• A survey of rodent-borne pathogens carried by wild-caught Norway rats: A potential threat to laboratory rodent colonies
• Formal Concept Analysis of Rodent Carriers of Zoonotic Disease
• Aboriginal and Invasive Rats of Genus Rattus as Hosts of Infectious Agents
• Rating the rat: global patterns and research priorities in impacts and management of rodent pests
• Rodent-borne hemorrhagic fevers: under-recognized, widely spread and preventable – epidemiology, diagnostics and treatment