Naslov
Small rodents as leptospirosis reservoirs in Croatian beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forest ecosystems

Autori
Bjedov, Linda ; Vucelja, Marko ; Margaletić, Josip ; Pernar, Renata ; Turk, Nenad ; Habuš, Josipa ; Tadin, Ante ; Markotić, Alemka

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
Program and Abstracts / Avenant, N.L. - Bloemfontein : ICRBM, 2010, 127-127

ISBN
0-747-25456-3

Skup
The 4th International Conference on Rodent Biology and Management

Mjesto i datum
Bloemfontein, Južnoafrička Republika, 12.04.2010. - 16.04.2010

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Poster

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
Sitni glodavci; Leptospiroza; Hrvatska
(small rodents; leptospirosos; Croatia)

Sažetak
Common beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is the most widespread tree species in Croatia and comprises 36% of all tree species in Croatian forest ecosystems. Small rodents, which inhabit such forests, are also reservoirs of different zoonotic agents. This work concentrates on one zoonotic disease, leptospirosis. Croatia is one of the countries with the highest incidence of human leptospirosis in Europe with mean yearly incidence of 1.83/100 000 inhabitants from 1990-2007. On our study site, the mountain Ivanščica (1061m), common beech covers 80% of the total forest area and with such uniform beech distribution makes an interesting research area for small rodent populations. For this study, small rodents were caught from March to October on 5 different locations using Sherman traps. The locations had different altitudes ranging from 325 to 1045 m. Results showed the highest rodent population densities at 1045m and 400m altitude. For all 5 locations, wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) was the dominant species (49%), and there were also yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) (22%), bank vole (Myodes glareolus) (28%) and the common vole (Microtus arvalis) (1%). Blood samples were tested for anti-leptospiral antibodies by microscopic agglutination test. Serology revealed presence of titres against 5 different serogroups: australis (wood mice), pomona (wood mice, yellow- necked mice and common vole), tarassovi (wood mice and yellow-necked mice), grippotyphosa (yellow- necked mice) and icterohaemorrhagiae (bank vole). Kidney tissue was sampled for isolation of Leptospira spp. and indicated that 27.5% of all animals were infected. The highest infection rate (67%) was observed for the yellow-necked mouse while in the wood mouse the infection rate was 17%. This data shows the importance of monitoring rodent populations and analyzing the prevalence of particular rodent born zoonoses to estimate the need for further health protection measures in forestry.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Kliničke medicinske znanosti, Veterinarska medicina, Šumarstvo

POVEZANOST RADA