1) Describe an experiment of your design to build upon what was found in this st
ID: 94318 • Letter: 1
Question
1) Describe an experiment of your design to build upon what was found in this study (make sure it is clearly related to the specific findings in this article! You will lose points if it is not closely related to the topic at hand!).
2) Propose two changes you would have made to the experiments described in the article to strengthen THIS publication (these should be realistic changes to the research described, not an entirely different experiments – use that for question #1!)
Journal of Medical Entomology Advance Access published March 2, 2015 VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES, SURVEILLANCE, PREVENTION Preliminary Survey of Ectoparasites and Associated Pathogens from Norway Rats in New York City 6,7 M. J. FRYE,12C. FIRTH.34 M. BHAT,35 M. A. FIRTH,'x. CHE,3 D. LEE,^ S. H. WILLIAMS,3 AND W. I. LIPKIN J. Med. Entoo 1-7 (2015); DOI: 10.1093/jme/tjv014 ABSTRACT The Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) is a reservoir of many zoonotic pathogens and lives in close proximity to humans in urban environments. Human infection with rodent-borne disease occurs ei- ther directly through contact with a rat or its excreta, or indirectly via arthropod vectors such as fleas and ticks. Here, we report on the diversity and abundance of ectoparasitic arthropod species and associated pathogenic bacteria from 133 Norway rats trapped over a 10-mo period in Manhattan, New York, NY. Norway rats were host to the tropical rat mite [Ornithonyssus bacoti (Hirst)], the spiny rat mite (Laelap.s echidnina Berlese), Laelaps nuttalli Hirst, the spined rat louse [Polyplax spinulosa (Burmeister), and the Oriental rat flea [(Xenopsylla cheopis) (Rothschild)], with an average of 1.7 species per individual. A flea index of 4.1 X cheopis was determined, whereas previous studies in New York City reported 0.22 fleas per rat. Multiple species of pathogenic Bartonella were identified from Oriental rat fleas that were related to dence of Yersinia pestis or Rickettsia spp. infection was detected in fleas. The identification of multiple medically important ectoparasite fully characterize the diversity and distribution of ectoparasites on Norway rats, and assess the risk to hu- mans of vector-borne disease transmission. tribocorum, Bartonella rochalimae, and Bartonella elizabethae. However, no evi in New York City underscores the need for future efforts to KEY WORDS ectoparasite, pathogen, Rattus norvegicus, Xenopsylla cheopis, Bartonella zoonotic disease transmission for a range of bacterial, parasitic, protozoan, and viral pathogens (Meerburg et al. 2009). Humans can be exposed to rodent-borne pathogens either directly through bites (Childs et al. to urine, feces (Hilton Introduction The Norway rat [Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout, e 1769)] is a cosmopolitan pest s human resources to survive. responsible for billions of dollars in damage to food et al. 2002, Phan et al. 2011), or arthropod that exploits rodents are year, 1998) or indirectly vi supplies (Pimentel et al. 2005), and can negatively sites. In particular, fleas can vector between rodents ways. Frequent expo- impact human health in several sure to rodent hair, droppings, and urine in the home and humans important pathogens such as Bartonella spp., Yersinia pestis, and Rickettsia typhi, the causative and murine typhus, respectively (Meerburg et al. 2009, Eisen and Gage or wor has been associated with an increased risk of both asthma and allergi es, especially for childrenents of bartonellosis, Perry et al. 2003, Matsui 2009, Jeal and Jones 2010). 2012) These effects are greatest in urban environments Simons et al. 2007) where abundant food, water, and shelter can support large rodent populations. Livi close proximity to rodents may lead to increased risk of To understand the risk of zoonotic disease transmis- nt surveys are used to obtain size, and sion in an area, urban rode ing in information on the distribution, pathogen diversity of rodents (Feng and Himsworth 2013). This information guides decisions about risk management and potential inter- vention strategies that include targeted rodent and ectoparasite control (Dennis et al. 1999). While these New York State IPM Program, 630W. North St., Geva, NY 14456 Corresponding author, e-mail:mjf267@cornell.edu Center for Infection and Immunity, Mailman School of Public surveys were conducted during the mid-20th c Health, Columbia University, 722W 168th St., New York, NY 10032 to address outbreaks of arthropod-borne diseases s Current affliation CSIRO Bioseeurity Flagship, Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Victoria, Australia as murine typhus (Reeves et al. 2006), current risk Current ailation: The Nature Conservancy, North America Region, assessments are often lacking for many urban centers. On surveillance y has there been a resurgence i New York, NY Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, programs in North America to detect infectious microbes (Easterbrook et al. 2007, Billeter New York, NY 10063 Current affiliation: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, 1G Royal Parade, Parkville, Vietoria, 3052, Australia et al. 2011, Himsworth et al. 2014) ©The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society ofAmerica. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals,permissions@oup.comExplanation / Answer
1) The study found about the prevalence of different ectoparasitic infestations in Norway rats collected from different sites of New York city. The results of the study was based on results obtained from 133 rats. These findings cannot be generalised. To improve the findings and validity and to generalise the results of this study, similar study can be performed at multiple study sites with large sample size. The relation between increasing rat population and the role of different ectoparasites in causing diseases in humans can be studied.
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