Transmission ecology of rodent-borne diseases: New frontiers

Abstract

Rodents are recognized reservoir hosts for many human zoonotic pathogens. The current trends resulting from anthropocene defaunation suggest that in the future they, along with other small mammals, are likely to become the dominant mammals in almost all human-modified environments. Recent intricate studies on bat-borne emerging diseases have highlighted that many gaps exist in our understanding of the zoonotic transmission of rodent-borne pathogens. This has emphasized the need for scientists interested in rodent-borne diseases to integrate rodent ecology into their analysis of rodent-borne pathogen transmission in order to identify in more detail the mechanisms of spillover and chains of transmission. Further studies are required to better understand the true impact of rodent abundance and the importance of pathogen sharing and circulation in multi-host- multi-pathogen communities. We also need to explore in more depth the roles of generalist and abundant species as the potential links between pathogen-sharing, co-infections and disease transmission.

Keywords: biodiversity; dilution effect; multi-infection; rodent-borne diseases; transmission ecology.