Abstract:
Rodents are of concern as reservoirs and transmitters
of pathogens that cause zoonotic and other diseases
in domestic animals and humans. The contact between
wild and urban rodent fauna is increasing in
expanding cities in Africa, and this arguably increases
the risk of disease transmission to urban populations.
When rodents from rural areas are accidentally introduced
into cities and encounter urban rodents, for example,
in markets, grain mills and butcheries, there is
a potential that pathogens are transferred between rural
and urban rodent populations. Using a non-toxic
biomarker, Rhodamine B (RB), we investigated the
distances over which rodents are active around such
potential introduction sites. Animals feeding at such
sites were traced up to 100 m distant within a period
of 10 days.We found that RB is a practical alternative
for studying rodent movements. These results may be
useful in designing management strategies to reduce
the risk of the introduction of new rodent-borne
pathogens in cities
