Perceptions of rodent-associated problems: an experience in urban and rural areas of Yucatan, Mexico
2017
Panti-May, Jesús Alonso | Sodá-Tamayo, Lorenzo | Gamboa-Tec, Naivy | Cetina-Franco, Rosy | Cigarroa-Toledo, Nohemi | Machaín-Williams, Carlos | del Rosario Robles, María | Hernández-Betancourt, Silvia F.
Rodents are a threat to agriculture and homes, and are a public health risk. Local perceptions about rodents and the damage they cause are vital, as a first step, to the design and implementation of rodent control or educational programs. A total of 111 interviews were conducted in two urban neighborhoods and two rural villages in Yucatan, Mexico. More than 90% of the interviewed inhabitants perceived rodents as a problem. The fear of rodents (57%), damage to food and stocks (56%), and damage to clothes (34%), were the most cited problems. In the urban neighborhoods, the use of rodent control methods was more frequent (57%) than in the villages (33%) in this study. In addition, the percentage of damage to domestic appliances was lower in villages (10%) than in neighborhoods (33%). Our preliminary results suggest that rodent pests represent a threat to human health and to human food security in the studied sites.
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