Table e2.
Summary of Zoonotic Pathogens and Associated Diseases of Rodents*
| Etiology | Disease Name | Known Host | Disease in Host (if any) | Other Species infected | Disease in nonhost species | Disease in Humans | Transmission Route | References | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bacteria | |||||||||
| Bartonella spp. | Bartonellosis | Many rodent species | None | Dogs, cats | None, endocarditis, myocarditis | Lymphadenopathy, neuroretinitis, endocarditis, myocarditis, acute febrile illness, anemia and chronic fatigue | Fleas, ticks, lice, flies, contact with infected blood | Gutiérrez (2015) | |
| Francisella tularensis | Tularemia | Beavers, muskrat, rabbits | NA | Mice, squirrels, hares, many mammal suseptible | Sudden death, necrotizing hepatitis and splenitis | Febrile illness, lymphadenitis, pneumonia, sepsis | Direct contact with infected animals, ticks, flies, contaminated water | Wobeser (2007), Wobeser (2009), Mörner (1992) | |
| Leptospira spp. | Leptospirosis | Rats, many rodent species | None, interstitial nephritis | Guinea pigs, hamsters | Sudden death, vasculitis, hemorrhage | Fever, icterus, pulmonar hemorrhage | Contact with urine-contaminated water | Adler (2010) | |
| Listeria monocytogenes | Listeriosis | Rats, mice, many rodent species | None | Cattle, sheep, rabbits, hares | Abortion, septicemia, encephalitis | Abortion, septicemia, encephalitis | Fecal-oral | Low (1997) | |
| Rickettsia akari | Rickettsialpox | House mice and rats | None | Other rodents, dogs | NA | Febrile illness, lymphadenopathy, papulovesicular rash | Biting mites | Meerburg (2009) | |
| Rickettsia typhi | Murine/Endemic typhus | Rats | None | House mice, cats, dogs, opossums, skunks | NA | Febrile illness, rash | Fleas, other ectoparasites | Meerburg (2009) | |
| Streptobacillus moniliformis and S. minus | Rat bite fever | Norway and black rats | Infected bite wounds, abscesses | NA | NA | Rash, arthritis, variably severe febrile illness, death | Rodent bites (also in urine and blood) | Meerburg (2009) | |
| Yersinia entercolitica | Yersiniosis (syn. Pseudotuberculosis) | Many rodent species | Necrotizing hepatitis, splenitis, entercolitis | Mice, voles, beavers, muskrats, agoutis, hares | Necrotizing hepatitis, splenitis, entercolitis | Entercolitis, fever | Fecal-oral via contaminated food and water | Mair (1973), Gasper (2009) | |
| Yersinia pestis | Plague | Voles, deer mice, prairie dogs, rats, squirrrels | Bubonic, pneumonic, septicemic | Cats | Bubonic, pneumonic, septicemic | Bubonic, pneumonic, septicemic | Fleas, contact with infected animals, inhalation | Gage (2005), Wobeser (2009) | |
| Yersinia pseudotuberculosis | Yersiniosis (syn. Pseudotuberculosis) | Many rodent species | Necrotizing hepatitis, splenitis, entercolitis | Mice, voles, beavers, muskrats, agoutis, hares | Necrotizing hepatitis, splenitis, entercolitis | Entercolitis, fever | Fecal-oral via contaminated food and water | Mair (1973), Gasper (2009) | |
| Viruses | |||||||||
| Orthopoxviridae | Pox (Mousepox, Cowpox) | Mice and other rodents | Ectromelia (mice): acute mortality, chronic (crusting dermatosis of face, legs and tail; conjuctivitis, organ and lymph node necrosis | Many rodent species susceptible | Cutaneous lesions | Cutaneous lesions | Direct contact | Meerburg (2009) | |
| Orthopoxviridae | Monkeypox | Monkeys, Gambian giant rat, squirrels | Cutaneous lesions | Prairie dogs | Necrotizing bronchopneumonia, conjunctivitis, and tongue ulcers | Fever, vascular rash | Direct contact | Meerburg (2009) | |
| Arenaviridae | Hemorrhagic fever | Many rodent species (coevolution with host), Mice, hamsters, guinea pigs and muskrats | None, may include conjunctivitis, ascites, splenomegaly, and hepatic lipidosis with multicentric vasculitis and perivascular lymphocytic infiltrates | None | None | Fever, malaise, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, mucosal hemorrhage | Contact with excretions or contaminated materials, inhalation | Meerburg (2009) | |
| Arenaviridae | Lassa fever | Multimammate rat | None | None | None | Fever, malaise, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, mucosal hemorrhage | Contact with excretions or contaminated materials, inhalation | Meerburg (2009) | |
| Arenaviridae | Lymphocytic choriomeningitis | House mice | None | None | None | Meningitis, encephalitis, fetal defects (intrauterine infection) | Contact with excretions or contaminated materials, inhalation | Meerburg (2009) | |
| Bunyaviridae | Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome | Deer mice, cotton rats, rice rats, whitefooted mice | None | None | None | Pneumonia, pulmonary edema, death | Contact with excretions or contaminated materials, inhalation, bites (rare) | Meerburg (2009) | |
| Bunyaviridae | Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome | Norway and black rats, field mice, voles | None | None | None | Fever, multisystemic vascular leakage, renal failure | Contact with excretions or contaminated materials, inhalation, bites (rare) | Meerburg (2009) | |
| Flaviviridae | Omsk hemorrhagic fever | Muskrats (Siberia) | Fatal encephalitis (muskrat) | Watervoles, Norway rats, mice, some bird species | None | Fever, hemorrhage without encephalitis | Direct contact with infected muskrats, Ticks (Dermacentor & Ixodes) | Meerburg (2009) | |
Adler, B. and la Peña Moctezuma, de,A. 2010. Leptospira and leptospirosis. Vet. Microbiol. 140, 287–296.
Gage, K. L., Kosoy, M. Y., 2005. Natural history of Plague: perspectives from more than a century of research. Ann. Rev. Entomol. 50, 505–528.
Gasper, P. W., Watson, R. P. Plague and yersiniosis. In: Williams, E. S., Barker, I. K. (Eds.), Infectious Diseases of Wild Mammals, third ed. Ames, Iowa, pp. 313–330.
Gutiérrez, R., Krasnov, B., Morick, D., Gottlieb, Y., Khokhlova, I. S., Harrus, S., 2015. Bartonella infection in rodents and their flea ectoparasites: an overview. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 15, 27–39.
Han, B. A., Schmidt, J. P., Bowden, S. E., Drake, J. M., 2015. Rodent reservoirs of future zoonotic diseases. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 112, 7039–7044.
Low, J. C., Donachie, W., 1997. A review of Listeria monocytogenes and listeriosis. Vet. J. 153, 9–29.
Mair, N.S., 1973. Yersiniosis in wildlife and its public health implications. J. Wildl. Dis. 9, 64–71.
Meerburg, B. G., Singleton, G. R., Kijlstra, A., 2009. Rodent-borne diseases and their risks for public health. Critical Rev. Microbiol. 35, 221–270.
Mörner, T., 1992. The ecology of tularaemia. Rev. Sci. Tech. 11, 1123–1130.
Wobeser, G., Ngeleka, M., Appleyard, G., Bryden, L., Mulvey, M. R., 2007. Tularemia in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) during a population irruption in Saskatchewan, Canada. J. Wildl. Dis. 43, 23–31.
Wobeser, G., Campbell, G. D., Dallaire, A., McBurney, S., 2009. Tularemia, plague, yersiniosis, and Tyzzer’s disease in wild rodents and lagomorphs in Canada: a review. Can. Vet. J. 50, 1251–1256
This list includes the zoonotic pathogens carried by rodents that cause disease in wild animals and those deemed most relevent to wildlife and zoo animal specialists; therefore it is not an exhaustive list. Readers are directed to Meerburg (2009) and Han (2015) for more information.