Rats from breeding colonies as pathogen reservoirs
2017
Heuser, Elisa* | Wilharm, Gottfried | Mayer-Scholl, Anne | Ehlers, Bernhard | Matuschka, F.-R. | Hoffmann, Bernd | Ulrich, Rainer
spp. and Acinetobacter baumannii, as well as for pathogens with no or unknown zoonotic potential such as Rattus norvegicus polyomavirus 1 (RnorPyV1) or rat hepacivirus. Rats infected with Leptospira do not show any clinical symptoms whereas in humans disease manifestations range from mild to severe or fatal. In-fections of rats with the human pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii have only been described in animal models but not in wild rats. RnorPyV1 was initially detected in a German rat breeding colony and in German wild rats. To determine the array of pathogens present in pet rats, wild rats and rats in breeding colonies, the network Rat-borne pathogens (RaBoPa) was established. In a pilot study 59 Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) and 68 Black rats (Rattus rattus) from three breeding colonies were included. The rats were examined with pathogen-specific assays for 11 pathogens and with open-view methods, including isolation approaches. The PCR-based investigations resulted in the detection of RnorPyV1-DNA in 36/72 (50%) tested animals (28/59 Norway and 8/68 black rats). There was no Leptospira-DNA positive rat of 127 investigated. Acinetobacter baumannii was isolated in tra-cheal samples of five rats (4 Norway rats, 1 black rat) from 125 analysed animals (3.2%). A few rat hepacivirus-positive animals (3/127; 2.4%) were detected. In conclusion, the results indicate a high infection rate of RnorPyV 1 in both rat species within different breeding colonies.
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Publisher Friedrich-Loeffler-Inst.
This bibliographic record has been provided by German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment
