Plague in Small Mammals From an Endemic Focus of the Malagasy Central Highlands: A Longitudinal Survey With a Special Reference on Black Rats ( Rattus rattus )

Mamionah Noro Jully Parany (), Nils Christian Stenseth, Fanohinjanaharinirina Rasoamalala, Soanandrasana Rahelinirina, Soloandry Rahajandraibe, Voahangy Andrianaivoarimanana, Gauthier Dobigny (), Olivier Gorgé, Eric Valade, Henry Fell, Beza Ramasindrazana and Minoarisoa Rajerison
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Mamionah Noro Jully Parany: Unité Peste - Plague Unit [Antananarivo, Madagascar] - Institut Pasteur de Madagascar - Pasteur Network (Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur), Université d'Antananarivo
Nils Christian Stenseth: Faculty of Medicine [Oslo] - UiO - University of Oslo
Fanohinjanaharinirina Rasoamalala: Unité Peste - Plague Unit [Antananarivo, Madagascar] - Institut Pasteur de Madagascar - Pasteur Network (Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur), Université d'Antananarivo
Soanandrasana Rahelinirina: Unité Peste - Plague Unit [Antananarivo, Madagascar] - Institut Pasteur de Madagascar - Pasteur Network (Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur), Université d'Antananarivo
Soloandry Rahajandraibe: Ministère de la Santé Publique - Ministry of Public Health [Antananarivo, Madagascar]
Voahangy Andrianaivoarimanana: Unité Peste - Plague Unit [Antananarivo, Madagascar] - Institut Pasteur de Madagascar - Pasteur Network (Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur), UON - University of Nottingham, UK
Gauthier Dobigny: Unité Peste - Plague Unit [Antananarivo, Madagascar] - Institut Pasteur de Madagascar - Pasteur Network (Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur), UMR CBGP - Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD [Occitanie] - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier
Olivier Gorgé: IRBA - Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées [Brétigny-sur-Orge]
Eric Valade: IRBA - Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées [Brétigny-sur-Orge]
Henry Fell: School of Geography [Nottingham] - UON - University of Nottingham, UK
Beza Ramasindrazana: Unité Peste - Plague Unit [Antananarivo, Madagascar] - Institut Pasteur de Madagascar - Pasteur Network (Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur), Université d'Antananarivo
Minoarisoa Rajerison: Unité Peste - Plague Unit [Antananarivo, Madagascar] - Institut Pasteur de Madagascar - Pasteur Network (Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur), Université d'Antananarivo

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Abstract: Plague, a zoonotic disease caused by Yersinia pestis , remains a major public health threat in several parts of the world, including Madagascar. Factors underlying long‐term persistence and emergence of the pathogen remain poorly understood. We implemented a longitudinal survey to provide insights into plague reservoir ecology within an endemic focus. Six trapping sessions (TS) were conducted in six different localities of the Ankazobe district from 2018 to 2020 in order to monitor small mammal communities. A total of 2762 individuals composed of six species ( Rattus rattus , Rattus norvegicus , Mus musculus , Setifer setosus , Suncus murinus and Tenrec ecaudatus ) were caught over the six successive TS. R. rattus represented 88% of all captures, with the highest relative abundances observed during the dry season (June to August 2019). None of the micromammals tested positive for the presence of Y. pestis , neither with qPCR nor bacterial culture. However, 11 seropositive individuals (6 R. rattus , 2 M. musculus and 3 S. murinus ) were retrieved following ELISA, thus leading to a global seroprevalence of 0.4%. Our study highlighted the significant influence of climatic data on the seasonal variations of R. rattus abundance and suggest that black rat control should be conducted before the dry season, that is, during high reproduction period of rats, in order to reduce the number of reproducing animals and prevent subsequent increase in abundance. As three S. murinus and two M. musculus plague seropositive were identified in the present study, their potential role in plague eco‐epidemiology in Madagascar should be explored further.

Keywords: health ecology; Madagascar; plague; population dynamics; reservoirs communities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Published in Integrative Zoology, inPress, ⟨10.1111/1749-4877.12944⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04915019

DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12944

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