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View article: Density-dependent recruitment but not survival drives cyclic dynamics in a field vole population
Density-dependent recruitment but not survival drives cyclic dynamics in a field vole population Open
Arguably, the most fundamental question in population ecology is what drives patterns in the abundance of populations? Small rodents exhibiting regular multiannual cycles in abundance have long been a test bed for addressing this question.…
View article: Community-led intensive trapping reduces abundance of key plague reservoir and flea vector
Community-led intensive trapping reduces abundance of key plague reservoir and flea vector Open
Background Zoonotic pathogens transmitted by rodents are highly prevalent in low-middle income countries and effective control measures that are easily implemented are urgently needed. Whilst rodent control seems sensible as a mitigation s…
View article: Dynamic movement patterns of commensal rodents <scp><i>Mastomys natalensis</i></scp> and <scp><i>Rattus rattus</i></scp>: determining differential habitat use using Rhodamine B
Dynamic movement patterns of commensal rodents <span><i>Mastomys natalensis</i></span> and <span><i>Rattus rattus</i></span>: determining differential habitat use using Rhodamine B Open
BACKGROUND Understanding movement patterns of rodent pests is essential for planning management strategies. Currently, for many rural village contexts, there is limited information on how rodents move between domestic and peridomestic area…
View article: Density-dependent network structuring within and across wild animal systems
Density-dependent network structuring within and across wild animal systems Open
High population density should drive individuals to more frequently share space and interact, producing better-connected spatial and social networks [1-4]. Although this theory is fundamental to our understanding of disease dynamics [2,5-8…
View article: Patterns and drivers of vector-borne microparasites in a classic metapopulation
Patterns and drivers of vector-borne microparasites in a classic metapopulation Open
Many organisms live in fragmented populations, which has profound consequences on the dynamics of associated parasites. Metapopulation theory offers a canonical framework for predicting the effects of fragmentation on spatiotemporal host–p…
View article: Reproductive ecology of the black rat (<i>Rattus rattus</i>) in Madagascar: the influence of density‐dependent and ‐independent effects
Reproductive ecology of the black rat (<i>Rattus rattus</i>) in Madagascar: the influence of density‐dependent and ‐independent effects Open
The black rat ( Rattus rattus ) poses a severe threat to food security and public health in Madagascar, where it is a major cause of pre‐ and post‐harvest crop losses and an important reservoir for many zoonotic diseases, including plague.…
View article: Living with rodent pests: Unifying stakeholder interests to prioritise pest management in rural Madagascar
Living with rodent pests: Unifying stakeholder interests to prioritise pest management in rural Madagascar Open
Rodent pests can have major social, economic, and environmental impacts. Their management, therefore, represents a complex socio‐ecological problem involving a network of stakeholders from across different sectors, with diverging and somet…
View article: Field assessment of dog as sentinel animal for plague in endemic foci of Madagascar
Field assessment of dog as sentinel animal for plague in endemic foci of Madagascar Open
The epidemiology of Yersinia pestis , the causative agent of plague, involves vectors and reservoirs in its transmission cycle. The passive plague surveillance in Madagascar targets mainly rodent and fleas. However, carnivores are routinel…
View article: Rodent control to fight plague: field assessment of methods based on rat density reduction
Rodent control to fight plague: field assessment of methods based on rat density reduction Open
Rodents represent a serious threat to food security and public health. The extent to which rodent control can mitigate the risk from rodent‐borne disease depends on both the effectiveness of control in reducing rodent abundance and the imp…
View article: Multi-locus sequence analyses reveal a clonal L. borgpetersenii genotype in a heterogeneous invasive Rattus spp. community across the City of Johannesburg, South Africa
Multi-locus sequence analyses reveal a clonal L. borgpetersenii genotype in a heterogeneous invasive Rattus spp. community across the City of Johannesburg, South Africa Open
Background Rattus spp. are frequently implicated as key reservoir hosts for leptospirosis, one of the most common, but neglected, bacterial zoonoses in the world. Although leptospirosis is predicted to be a significant public health threat…
View article: Multi-locus sequence analyses reveal a clonal L. borgpetersenii genotype in a heterogeneous invasive Rattus spp. community across the City of Johannesburg, South Africa
Multi-locus sequence analyses reveal a clonal L. borgpetersenii genotype in a heterogeneous invasive Rattus spp. community across the City of Johannesburg, South Africa Open
Background: Rattus spp. are frequently implicated as key reservoir hosts for leptospirosis, one of the most common, but neglected, bacterial zoonoses in the world. Although leptospirosis is predicted to be a significant public health threa…
View article: Multi-locus sequence analyses reveal a clonal L. borgpetersenii genotype in a heterogeneous invasive Rattus spp. community across the City of Johannesburg, South Africa
Multi-locus sequence analyses reveal a clonal L. borgpetersenii genotype in a heterogeneous invasive Rattus spp. community across the City of Johannesburg, South Africa Open
Background Rattus spp. are frequently implicated as key reservoir hosts for leptospirosis, one of the most common, but neglected, bacterial zoonoses in the world. Although leptospirosis is predicted to be a significant public health threat…
View article: Human plague: An old scourge that needs new answers
Human plague: An old scourge that needs new answers Open
Yersinia pestis, the bacterial causative agent of plague, remains an important threat to human health. Plague is a rodent-borne disease that has historically shown an outstanding ability to colonize and persist across different species, ha…
View article: Multi-locus sequence analyses reveal a clonal L. borgpetersenii genotype in a heterogeneous invasive Rattus spp. community across the City of Johannesburg, South Africa
Multi-locus sequence analyses reveal a clonal L. borgpetersenii genotype in a heterogeneous invasive Rattus spp. community across the City of Johannesburg, South Africa Open
Background Rattus spp. are frequently implicated as key reservoir hosts for leptospirosis, one of the most common, but neglected, bacterial zoonoses in the world. Although leptospirosis is predicted to be a significant public health threat…
View article: Human Exposure to Hantaviruses Associated with Rodents of the <i>Murinae</i> Subfamily, Madagascar
Human Exposure to Hantaviruses Associated with Rodents of the <i>Murinae</i> Subfamily, Madagascar Open
We conducted a national human serologic study of a hantavirus detected in Madagascar rodents using a commercial kit and a new ELISA targeting the virus. Our results suggest a conservative estimate of 2.7% (46/1,680) IgG seroprevalence. A s…
View article: <i>Leptospira</i> in livestock in Madagascar: uncultured strains, mixed infections and small mammal-livestock transmission highlight challenges in controlling and diagnosing leptospirosis in the developing world
<i>Leptospira</i> in livestock in Madagascar: uncultured strains, mixed infections and small mammal-livestock transmission highlight challenges in controlling and diagnosing leptospirosis in the developing world Open
In developing countries, estimates of the prevalence and diversity of Leptospira infections in livestock, an important but neglected zoonotic pathogen and cause of livestock productivity loss, are lacking. In Madagascar, abattoir sampling …
View article: Fast, Sensitive and Specific Detection of Thailand orthohantavirus and Its Variants Using One-Step Real-Time Reverse-Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay
Fast, Sensitive and Specific Detection of Thailand orthohantavirus and Its Variants Using One-Step Real-Time Reverse-Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay Open
Genetic variants of Thailand orthohantavirus (THAIV) have been recently reported from rodents in South-East Asia and in islands from the South-West part of the Indian Ocean. In order to detect THAIV and its variants, we developed a sensiti…
View article: Geographical distribution of hantavirus identified from small terrestrial mammals in Madagascar and evaluation of risk factors relating to the hantavirus infection
Geographical distribution of hantavirus identified from small terrestrial mammals in Madagascar and evaluation of risk factors relating to the hantavirus infection Open
Background: Hantavirus infection is a zoonotic disease sometime associated with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and cardiopulmonary syndrome in human. A genetic variant of Thailand Virus namely Anjozorobe virus was recently character…
View article: Mixed <i>Leptospira</i> Infections in a Diverse Reservoir Host Community, Madagascar, 2013–2015
Mixed <i>Leptospira</i> Infections in a Diverse Reservoir Host Community, Madagascar, 2013–2015 Open
We identified mixed infections of pathogenic Leptospira in small mammals across a landscape-scale study area in Madagascar by using primers targeting different Leptospira spp. Using targeted primers increased prevalence estimates and evide…
View article: The Asian house shrew Suncus murinus as a reservoir and source of human outbreaks of plague in Madagascar
The Asian house shrew Suncus murinus as a reservoir and source of human outbreaks of plague in Madagascar Open
Identifying key reservoirs for zoonoses is crucial for understanding variation in incidence. Plague re-emerged in Mahajanga, Madagascar in the 1990s but there has been no confirmed case since 1999. Here we combine ecological and genetic da…
View article: Temporal phylogeography of Yersinia pestis in Madagascar: Insights into the long-term maintenance of plague
Temporal phylogeography of Yersinia pestis in Madagascar: Insights into the long-term maintenance of plague Open
Our analysis suggests that persistent endemic cycles of Y. pestis transmission within local areas are responsible for the long term maintenance of plague in Madagascar, rather than repeated episodes of wide scale epidemic spread. Landscape…
View article: Molecular and serological evidence of flea-associated typhus group and spotted fever group rickettsial infections in Madagascar
Molecular and serological evidence of flea-associated typhus group and spotted fever group rickettsial infections in Madagascar Open
The general population in Madagascar are exposed to rickettsiae, and two flea-associated Rickettsia pathogens, R. typhi and R. felis, are present near or in homes. Although our results are from a single district, they demonstrate that rick…
View article: Additional file 2: Table S1. of Genetic structure and gene flow of the flea Xenopsylla cheopis in Madagascar and Mayotte
Additional file 2: Table S1. of Genetic structure and gene flow of the flea Xenopsylla cheopis in Madagascar and Mayotte Open
Estimated frequencies of null alleles per locus per population using Van Oosterhout’s method. (XLSX 10 kb)
View article: Additional file 4: Table S2. of Genetic structure and gene flow of the flea Xenopsylla cheopis in Madagascar and Mayotte
Additional file 4: Table S2. of Genetic structure and gene flow of the flea Xenopsylla cheopis in Madagascar and Mayotte Open
Pairwise F ST and values between all populations. Table S3. Pairwise F ST ENA values among populations. (XLSX 12 kb)
View article: Additional file 5: Table S4. of Genetic structure and gene flow of the flea Xenopsylla cheopis in Madagascar and Mayotte
Additional file 5: Table S4. of Genetic structure and gene flow of the flea Xenopsylla cheopis in Madagascar and Mayotte Open
Probability for each of the seven tested scenarios of population introduction using direct and logistic approaches. (XLSX 9 kb)