The changing triad of plague in Uganda: invasive black rats (Rattus rattus), indigenous small mammals, and their fleas ...

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Rattus rattus was first reported from the West Nile Region of Uganda in 1961, an event that preceded the appearance of the first documented human plague outbreak in 1970. We investigated how invasive R. rattus and native small mammal populations, as...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Enscore, Russell E., Babi, Nackson, Amatre, Gerald, Atiku, Linda, Eisen, Rebecca J., Pepin, Kimberly M., Vera-Tudela, Rommelle, Sexton, Christopher, Gage, Kenneth L.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Zenodo 2020
Subjects:
Africa
Plague
Rattus rattus
Uganda
fleas
invasive rats
Biodiversity
Mammalia
Chiroptera
Chordata
Animalia
bats
bat
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13532764
https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.13532764
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Summary:(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Rattus rattus was first reported from the West Nile Region of Uganda in 1961, an event that preceded the appearance of the first documented human plague outbreak in 1970. We investigated how invasive R. rattus and native small mammal populations, as well as their fleas, have changed in recent decades. Over an 18-month period, a total of 2,959 small mammals were captured, sampled, and examined for fleas, resulting in the identification of 20 small mammal taxa that were hosts to 5,109 fleas (nine species). Over three-fourths (75.8%) of captured mammals belonged to four taxa: R. rattus, which predominated inside huts, and Arvicanthis niloticus, Mastomys sp., and Crocidura sp., which were more common outside huts. These mammals were hosts for 85.8% of fleas collected, including the efficient plague vectors Xenopsylla cheopis and X. brasiliensis, as well as likely enzootic vectors, Dinopsyllus lypusus and Ctenophthalmus bacopus. Flea loads on small mammals were ...

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