Prevalence of  Leptospira  spp. and Seoul hantavirus in brown rats ( Rattus norvegicus ) in four regions in the Netherlands, 2011-2015

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ABSTRACT

Background: Brown rats ( Rattus norvegicus) may carry pathogens that can be a risk for public health. Brown rats in the Netherlands were tested for the zoonotic pathogens Leptospira spp. and Seoul hantavirus (SEOV), in order to obtain insight in their prevalence. Methods and results: Cross-sectional studies were performed at four locations from 2011 to 2015. The rats were tested for Leptospira spp. using real-time PCR and/or culture resulting in a prevalence ranging between 33–57%. Testing for SEOV was done through an adapted human Seoul hantavirus ELISA and real-time RT-PCR. Although at several locations the ELISA indicated presence of SEOV antibodies, none could be confirmed by focus reduction neutralization testing. Conclusion: The results indicate a widespread presence of Leptospira spp. in brown rats in the Netherlands, including areas with a low leptospirosis incidence in humans. No evidence for circulation of SEOV was found in this study.

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Global Burden of Leptospirosis: Estimated in Terms of Disability Adjusted Life Years

Paul Torgerson, José E. Hagan, Federico Costa … (2015)

Background Leptospirosis, a spirochaetal zoonosis, occurs in diverse epidemiological settings and affects vulnerable populations, such as rural subsistence farmers and urban slum dwellers. Although leptospirosis can cause life-threatening disease, there is no global burden of disease estimate in terms of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) available. Methodology/Principal Findings We utilised the results of a parallel publication that reported global estimates of morbidity and mortality due to leptospirosis. We estimated Years of Life Lost (YLLs) from age and gender stratified mortality rates. Years of Life with Disability (YLDs) were developed from a simple disease model indicating likely sequelae. DALYs were estimated from the sum of YLLs and YLDs. The study suggested that globally approximately 2·90 million DALYs are lost per annum (UIs 1·25–4·54 million) from the approximately annual 1·03 million cases reported previously. Males are predominantly affected with an estimated 2·33 million DALYs (UIs 0·98–3·69) or approximately 80% of the total burden. For comparison, this is over 70% of the global burden of cholera estimated by GBD 2010. Tropical regions of South and South-east Asia, Western Pacific, Central and South America, and Africa had the highest estimated leptospirosis disease burden. Conclusions/Significance Leptospirosis imparts a significant health burden worldwide, which approach or exceed those encountered for a number of other zoonotic and neglected tropical diseases. The study findings indicate that highest burden estimates occur in resource-poor tropical countries, which include regions of Africa where the burden of leptospirosis has been under-appreciated and possibly misallocated to other febrile illnesses such as malaria.

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A survey of zoonotic pathogens carried by Norway rats in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

J Easterbrook, J Kaplan, N B Vanasco … (2007)

Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) carry several zoonotic pathogens and because rats and humans live in close proximity in urban environments, there exists potential for transmission. To identify zoonotic agents carried by rats in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, we live-trapped 201 rats during 2005-2006 and screened them for a panel of viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Antibodies against Seoul virus (57.7%), hepatitis E virus (HEV, 73.5%), Leptospira interrogans (65.3%), Bartonella elizabethae (34.1%), and Rickettsia typhi (7.0%) were detected in Norway rats. Endoparasites, including Calodium hepatica (87.9%) and Hymenolepis sp. (34.4%), and ectoparasites (13.9%, primarily Laelaps echidninus) also were present. The risk of human exposure to these pathogens is a significant public health concern. Because these pathogens cause non-specific and often self-limiting symptoms in humans, infection in human populations is probably underdiagnosed.

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Hantaviruses and their hosts in Europe: reservoirs here and there, but not everywhere?

Gert Olsson, Herwig Leirs, Heikki Henttonen (2010)

Five hantaviruses are known to circulate among rodents in Europe, and at least two among insectivores. Four (Dobrava, Saaremaa, Seoul, and Puumala [PUUV] viruses) are clearly associated with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). PUUV, the most common etiological agent of HFRS in Europe, is carried by the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), one of the most widespread and abundant mammal species in Europe. This host-virus system is among hantaviruses also the most studied one in Europe. However, HFRS incidence varies throughout the continent. The spatial as well as temporal variation in the occurrence of HFRS is linked to geographic differences in the population dynamics of the reservoir rodents in different biomes of Europe. While rodent abundance may follow mast seeding events in many parts of temperate Europe, in northern (N) Europe multiannual cycles in population density exist as the result of the interaction between rodent populations and specialist predator populations in a delayed density-dependent manner. The spatial distribution of hantaviruses further depends on parameters such as forest patch size and connectivity of the most suitable rodent habitats, and the conditions for the survival of the virus outside the host, as well as historical distribution patterns (phylogeographies) of hosts and viruses. In multiannually fluctuating populations of rodents, with population increases of great amplitude, one should expect a simultaneous build-up of recently hantavirus-infected (shedding) rodents. The increasing number of infectious, virus-shedding rodents leads to a rapid transmission of hantavirus across the rodent population, and to humans. Our review discusses these aspects for PUUV, the only European hantavirus for which there is a reasonable, yet still far from complete, ecological continental-wide understanding. We discuss how this information could translate to other European hantavirus-host systems, and where the most important questions lie for further research.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Infect Ecol Epidemiol

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Infect Ecol Epidemiol

Journal ID (publisher-id): ZIEE

Journal ID (publisher-id): ziee20

Title: Infection Ecology & Epidemiology

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

ISSN (Electronic): 2000-8686

Publication date Collection: 2018

Publication date (Electronic): 26 June 2018

Volume: 8

Issue: 1

Electronic Location Identifier: 1490135

Affiliations

[a ] Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) , Bilthoven, the Netherlands

[b ] Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, WHO Collaborating Centre for arbovirus and hemorrhagic fever virus reference and research , Rotterdam, the Netherlands

[c ] Public health service (GGD) Amsterdam , Amsterdam, the Netherlands

[d ] OIE and National Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Leptospirosis (NRL) , Amsterdam, the Netherlands

[e ] Wageningen Bioveterinary Research , Lelystad, The Netherlands

[f ] Uppsala University , Uppsala, Sweden

[g ] Research Laboratory for Vector-Borne Diseases, Queen Astrid Military Hospital , Brussels, Belgium

Author notes

CONTACT Miriam Maas miriam.maas@ 123456rivm.nl National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Centre for Infectious Disease Control (CIb), Centre for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology (Z&O) , Antonie van Leeuwenhoeklaan 9, P.O. Box 1, 3720BA, Bilthoven, The Netherlands

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Roan Pijnacker http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6408-3074

Article

Publisher ID: 1490135

DOI: 10.1080/20008686.2018.1490135

PMC ID: 6022222

PubMed ID: 29963297

SO-VID: 99129798-ecd2-4cf2-b1ec-e4eb60346159

License:

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

History

Date received : 07 November 2017

Date accepted : 13 June 2018

Page count

Figures: 1, Tables: 1, References: 34, Pages: 8

Funding

Funded by: Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority

Funded by: Ministry of Health, Sports and Welfare

The studies were financed by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority and the Ministry of Health, Sports and Welfare.

Prevalence of Leptospira spp. and Seoul hantavirus in brown rats ( Rattus norvegicus) in four regions in the Netherlands, 2011-2015

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Most cited references 26

Global Burden of Leptospirosis: Estimated in Terms of Disability Adjusted Life Years

A survey of zoonotic pathogens carried by Norway rats in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Hantaviruses and their hosts in Europe: reservoirs here and there, but not everywhere?

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