Tails of Two Cities: Age and Wounding Are Associated With Carriage of Leptospira interrogans by Norway Rats (Rattus norvegicus) in Ecologically Distinct Urban Environments
Tails of Two Cities: Age and Wounding Are Associated With Carriage of Leptospira interrogans by Norway Rats (Rattus norvegicus) in Ecologically Distinct Urban Environments
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DOI：
10.3389/fevo.2019.00014
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发表时间：
2019-01-30
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Costa, Federico
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Minter, Amanda;Himsworth, Chelsea G.;Costa, Federico
钩端螺旋体病是一种人畜共患疾病，老鼠是城市环境中的主要宿主。它通过尿液从老鼠传播给人类，是导致资源贫乏地区人类显着发病和死亡的原因。为了减轻对人类造成的风险，了解病原体问号钩端螺旋体的生态学非常重要。本研究的总体目标是比较两个生态不同的城市环境中挪威城市大鼠中问号钩端螺旋体的携带情况。我们在加拿大温哥华 (N = 525) 和巴西萨尔瓦多 (N = 433) 捕获挪威大鼠 (Rattusnorvegicus)，以评估大鼠特征（即性别、体重、性成熟、怀孕和伤口的存在）和捕获位置是否与问号钩虫状态相关。使用广义线性混合模型通过捕获位置控制聚类，我们发现萨尔瓦多询问钩端螺旋体的流行率（79％）高于温哥华（12％），并且温哥华病原体流行率的空间异质性高于萨尔瓦多。在这两个地点，我们发现年长的老鼠和咬伤较多的老鼠携带问号钩端螺旋体的几率更大，尽管受伤对年轻动物的病原体状态影响更大。此外，我们发现萨尔瓦多的幼年老鼠比温哥华的老鼠更有可能离开感染问号钩端螺旋体的巢穴，这表明这两个地点之间存在生命早期传播动态的潜在差异。总之，这些结果阐明了问号钩端螺旋体的一般生态学，以及地理位置在确定大鼠之间传播方面的重要性。
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease for which rats are the primary reservoir in urban environments. It is transmitted from rats to people via urine, and is responsible for significant human morbidity and mortality in under-resourced settings. To mitigate the risks posed to people, it is important to understand the ecology of the causative agent Leptospira interrogans. The overarching objective of this study was to compare L. interrogans carriage in urban Norway rats in two ecologically distinct urban environments. We trapped Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) in Vancouver, Canada (N = 525) and Salvador, Brazil (N = 433) to evaluate whether rat characteristics (i.e., sex, weight, sexual maturity, pregnancy, and the presence of wounds) and location of capture were associated with L. interrogans status. Using generalized linear mixed models to control for clustering by trapping location, we found a greater prevalence of L. interrogans in Salvador (79%) than in Vancouver (12%), and greater spatial heterogeneity in pathogen prevalence in Vancouver than in Salvador. In both locations, we found that older rats and rats with more bite wounds had greater odds of L. interrogans carriage, although wounding influenced pathogen status more for younger animals. Additionally, we found that juvenile rats in Salvador were more likely to leave the nest infected with L. interrogans than were rats in Vancouver, suggesting that potential differences in early-life transmission dynamics exist between the two locations. Together, these results elucidate both general L. interrogans ecology, as well as the importance of geographical location in determining transmission among rats.