Cross-sectional sero-prevalence of tularemia among murine rodents of Nepal

Abstract

In April of 2015, a massive earthquake and hundreds of aftershocks stroked entire country. Geophysical disasters not only create economic crisis but also cause changes in disease ecology. Tularemia is a zoonotic disease with range of pathogenicity in different animal species. This study was designed to identify the disease status of tularemia in different species of murine rodents of Chitwan District of Nepal. Once the rodents were recovered from metal traps, they were euthanized by injectable anesthesia overdose followed by cervical dislocation. Blood was collected from the heart, and serum was isolated. Presence of tularemia antibodies in the serum was tested by using immunochromatographic test kit containing bacterial lipopolysaccharides. Of the total 80 serum samples tested, 1 sample was found tularemia positive, i.e., apparent prevalence 1.25% (95% CI, i.e., normal approx. CL, − 1.18 to 3.68%) and the true prevalence 0.5024% (95% CI, i.e., Blacker CL, 0 to 5.45%). Likewise, 23.75% (95% CI, i.e., normal approx. CL, 14.42 to 33.08%) of the animals were found with a few to numerous whitish/grayish or yellowish foci and 13.75% (95% CI, i.e., normal approx. CL, 6.2 to 21.3%) of animals with cystic lesions in their liver parenchyma. The location’s prevalence was 3.70% for Bharatpur, while nil for the rest of the areas and the difference was statistically insignificant (*P > 0.05). This evidence of existence of Francisella tularensis in Nepal is expected to evoke public interest at different levels. Food and commodities contaminated with secretions and excretions of rats and mice are strongly suggested to avoid as a safety measure to rodents born infectious diseases.