Public Health and Rodents: A Game of Cat and Mouse

Bastiaan G. Meerburg

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-85877-3_24-1

Public Health and Rodents: A Game of Cat and Mouse

Bastiaan G. Meerburg

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Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary › Academic

Abstract

Rodents are the most abundant order of living mammals, distributed on every continent except Antarctic and represent 43% of all mammalian species. Beside causing food losses and infrastructural damage, rodents can harbor pathogens that may cause serious problems to human and animal health. Unfortunately, rodent-associated problems are not an issue of the past as some may have thought, even not in the developed world. This chapter describes four factors that determine the risk and severity of human infection by zoonotic pathogens of rodents: human behavior, human health condition, rodent ecology & behavior, and pathogen ecology & persistence. It provides an overview of these factors, their interrelation and also some directions for further research. Main conclusion of this chapter is that although science has come a long way already and we have won some small victories over the rodents, the game of cat (i.e., humans) and mouse is far from being settled.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Zoonoses: Infections Affecting Humans and Animals
Editors	Andreas Sing
Publisher	Springer
Chapter	24-1
Pages	1-14
ISBN (Electronic)	9783030858773
ISBN (Print)	9783030858773
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85877-3_24-1
Publication status	Published - 27 Oct 2022

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10.1007/978-3-030-85877-3_24-1

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abstract = "Rodents are the most abundant order of living mammals, distributed on every continent except Antarctic and represent 43\% of all mammalian species. Beside causing food losses and infrastructural damage, rodents can harbor pathogens that may cause serious problems to human and animal health. Unfortunately, rodent-associated problems are not an issue of the past as some may have thought, even not in the developed world. This chapter describes four factors that determine the risk and severity of human infection by zoonotic pathogens of rodents: human behavior, human health condition, rodent ecology \& behavior, and pathogen ecology \& persistence. It provides an overview of these factors, their interrelation and also some directions for further research. Main conclusion of this chapter is that although science has come a long way already and we have won some small victories over the rodents, the game of cat (i.e., humans) and mouse is far from being settled.",

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AB - Rodents are the most abundant order of living mammals, distributed on every continent except Antarctic and represent 43% of all mammalian species. Beside causing food losses and infrastructural damage, rodents can harbor pathogens that may cause serious problems to human and animal health. Unfortunately, rodent-associated problems are not an issue of the past as some may have thought, even not in the developed world. This chapter describes four factors that determine the risk and severity of human infection by zoonotic pathogens of rodents: human behavior, human health condition, rodent ecology & behavior, and pathogen ecology & persistence. It provides an overview of these factors, their interrelation and also some directions for further research. Main conclusion of this chapter is that although science has come a long way already and we have won some small victories over the rodents, the game of cat (i.e., humans) and mouse is far from being settled.

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ER -

Public Health and Rodents: A Game of Cat and Mouse

Abstract

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