Evidence of influenza A in wild Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) in Boston, Massachusetts. Cummings, C. O., Hill, N. J., Puryear, W. B., Rogers, B., Mukherjee, J., Leibler, J. H., Rosenbaum, M. H., & Runstadler, J. A. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, March, 2019.
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Paper doi abstract bibtex
Paper doi abstract bibtex Influenza A virus (IAV) is known to circulate among human and animal reservoirs, yet there are few studies that address the potential for urban rodents to carry and shed IAV. Rodents are often used as influenza models in the lab, but the few field studies that have looked for evidence of IAV in rodents have done so primarily in rural areas following outbreaks of IAV in poultry. This study sought to assess the prevalence of IAV recovered from wild Norway rats in a dense urban location (Boston). To do this, we sampled the oronasal cavity, paws, and lungs of Norway rats trapped by the City of Boston’s Inspectional Services from December 2016 to September 2018. All samples were screened by real-time, reverse transcriptase PCR targeting the conserved IAV matrix segment. A total of 163 rats were trapped, 18 of which (11.04%) were RT-PCR positive for IAV in either oronasal swabs (9), paw swabs (9), both (2), or lung homogenates (2). A generalized linear model indicated that month and geographic location were correlated with IAV-positive PCR status of rats. A seasonal trend in IAV-PCR status was observed with the highest prevalence occurring in the winter months (December - January) followed by a decline over the course of the year reaching lowest prevalence in September. Sex and weight of rats were not significantly associated with IAV-PCR status, suggesting that rodent demography is not a primary driver of infection. This pilot study provides evidence of the need to further investigate the role that wild rats may play as reservoirs or mechanical vectors for IAV circulation in urban environments across seasons.
@article{cummings_evidence_2019,
title = {Evidence of influenza {A} in wild {Norway} rats ({Rattus} norvegicus) in {Boston}, {Massachusetts}},
volume = {7},
copyright = {All rights reserved},
issn = {2296-701X},
shorttitle = {Influenza in wild {Norway} rats},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fevo.2019.00036 https://fjfsdata01prod.blob.core.windows.net/articles/files/434274/pubmed-zip/.versions/1/.package-entries/fevo-07-00036/fevo-07-00036.pdf?sv=2015-12-11&sr=b&sig=uxdGCrkb1QSh0B43ESyzo2WinRCxdGbQhCvymCpM0Cs%3D&se=2019-09-11T00%3A07%3A16Z&sp=r&rscd=attachment%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27fevo-07-00036.pdf},
doi = {10.3389/fevo.2019.00036},
abstract = {Influenza A virus (IAV) is known to circulate among human and animal reservoirs, yet there are few studies that address the potential for urban rodents to carry and shed IAV. Rodents are often used as influenza models in the lab, but the few field studies that have looked for evidence of IAV in rodents have done so primarily in rural areas following outbreaks of IAV in poultry. This study sought to assess the prevalence of IAV recovered from wild Norway rats in a dense urban location (Boston). To do this, we sampled the oronasal cavity, paws, and lungs of Norway rats trapped by the City of Boston’s Inspectional Services from December 2016 to September 2018. All samples were screened by real-time, reverse transcriptase PCR targeting the conserved IAV matrix segment. A total of 163 rats were trapped, 18 of which (11.04\%) were RT-PCR positive for IAV in either oronasal swabs (9), paw swabs (9), both (2), or lung homogenates (2). A generalized linear model indicated that month and geographic location were correlated with IAV-positive PCR status of rats. A seasonal trend in IAV-PCR status was observed with the highest prevalence occurring in the winter months (December - January) followed by a decline over the course of the year reaching lowest prevalence in September. Sex and weight of rats were not significantly associated with IAV-PCR status, suggesting that rodent demography is not a primary driver of infection. This pilot study provides evidence of the need to further investigate the role that wild rats may play as reservoirs or mechanical vectors for IAV circulation in urban environments across seasons.},
language = {English},
number = {36},
journal = {Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution},
author = {Cummings, Charles O. and Hill, Nichola J. and Puryear, Wendy B. and Rogers, Benjamin and Mukherjee, Jean and Leibler, Jessica H. and Rosenbaum, Marieke H. and Runstadler, Jonathan A.},
month = mar,
year = {2019},
keywords = {Novel host, Orthomyxoviridae, Urban rodents, Wildlife disease, influenza},
}Downloads: 0
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A."],"bibdata":{"bibtype":"article","type":"article","title":"Evidence of influenza A in wild Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) in Boston, Massachusetts","volume":"7","copyright":"All rights reserved","issn":"2296-701X","shorttitle":"Influenza in wild Norway rats","url":"https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fevo.2019.00036 https://fjfsdata01prod.blob.core.windows.net/articles/files/434274/pubmed-zip/.versions/1/.package-entries/fevo-07-00036/fevo-07-00036.pdf?sv=2015-12-11&sr=b&sig=uxdGCrkb1QSh0B43ESyzo2WinRCxdGbQhCvymCpM0Cs%3D&se=2019-09-11T00%3A07%3A16Z&sp=r&rscd=attachment%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27fevo-07-00036.pdf","doi":"10.3389/fevo.2019.00036","abstract":"Influenza A virus (IAV) is known to circulate among human and animal reservoirs, yet there are few studies that address the potential for urban rodents to carry and shed IAV. 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A seasonal trend in IAV-PCR status was observed with the highest prevalence occurring in the winter months (December - January) followed by a decline over the course of the year reaching lowest prevalence in September. Sex and weight of rats were not significantly associated with IAV-PCR status, suggesting that rodent demography is not a primary driver of infection. 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