The brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) is a relatively recent (<300 years) addition to the British fauna, but by association with negative impacts on public health, animal health and agriculture, it is regarded as one of the most important vertebrate pest species. Anticoagulant rodenticides were introduced for brown rat control in the 1950s and are widely used for rat control in the UK, but long-sta...

Intra- and interspecific agonistic encounters in Long-Evans and field-trapped Rattus norvegicus and Rattus rattus showed a consistency in the form and character of attack and defensive behaviors. Colony alpha males exhibited high levels of lateral attack, on-top, and chasing behaviors which resulted in a high percentage of bites on the intruder's back. Bites directed to the back were countered ...

Cat is the definitive host of Taenia taeniaeformis (T. taeniaeformis). Cysticercus fasciolaris (C. fasciolaris), the larval stage of T. taeniaeformis, develops in small rodents which act as intermediate host. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of C. fasciolaris in brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) in the densely human populated parishes, St. George's and St. David's of Grenada, W...

The prevalence of antibodies against hantavirus in 413 rats (Rattus norvegicus) captured in eight regions of the Tokyo Bay area from 1983 to 1992 were examined by the indirect fluorescent antibody test. Antibody-positive rats were found in Tokyo Port in 1983 (34.8%), 1984 (25.9%), 1985 (22.0%) and 1986 (15.6%), in Kasai Seaside Park in 1989 (3.2%) and 1990 (4.2%) and in Chiba Port in 1990 (6.7%...

The island of Newfoundland is unique because it has as many non-native terrestrial mammals as native ones. The impacts of non-native species on native flora and fauna can be profound and invasive species have been identified as one of the primary drivers of species extinction. Few studies, however, have investigated the effects of a non-native species assemblage on community and ecosystem prope...

Natural infection with larval Echinococcus multilocularis was recognized in one of eight Norway rats, Rattus norvegicus, caught indoors in 2009 in Ebetsu, Hokkaido, northern Japan. Cystic lesions were found in the right median and lateral lobes of the liver, with numerous alveolar cysts in the periphery of the lesions. Protoscolices were formed within large cysts. The laminated layers of the cy...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to determine intestinal and liver helminth infections in Rattus rodents in Tehran Iran. METHODS Overall, 306 traps were put in 39 different regions in Tehran from 2009 to 2010. Rodents, including R. rattus and R. norvegicus were caught by live-traps. They become unconscious and the spinal cords were cut, afterwards the body was dissected and the stomach, s...

Hantaan, Seoul, and Puumala viruses were transmitted to 12-16-week-old female Wistar Rattus norvegicus by inhalation. The rodent infectious dose for each virus by intramuscular inoculation and by inhalation was determined, as was the infectious dose for Vero E-6 cells by direct plaque assay.

The role of rodents in the epidemiology of zoonotic hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection has been a subject of considerable debate. Seroprevalence studies suggest widespread HEV infection in commensal Rattus spp. rats, but experimental transmission has been largely unsuccessful and recovery of zoonotic genotype 3 HEV RNA from wild Rattus spp. rats has never been confirmed. We surveyed R. rattus an...