Abstract
BackgroundRodents are reservoirs and hosts for several zoonotic diseases such as plague, leptospirosis, and leishmaniasis. Rapid development of industry and agriculture, as well as climate change throughout the globe, has led to change or increase in occurrence of rodent-borne diseases. Considering the distribution of rodents throughout Iran, the aim of this review is to assess the risk of rodent-borne diseases in Iran.Methodology/Principal findingWe searched Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, Scientific Information Database (SID), and Magiran databases up to September 2016 to obtain articles reporting occurrence of rodent-borne diseases in Iran and extract information from them. Out of 70 known rodent-borne diseases, 34 were reported in Iran: 17 (50%) parasitic diseases, 13 (38%) bacterial diseases, and 4 (12%) viral diseases. Twenty-one out of 34 diseases were reported from both humans and rodents. Among the diseases reported in the rodents of Iran, plague, leishmaniasis, and hymenolepiasis were the most frequent. The most infected rodents were Rattus norvegicus (16 diseases), Mus musculus (14 diseases), Rattus rattus (13 diseases), Meriones persicus (7 diseases), Apodemus spp. (5 diseases), Tatera indica (4 diseases), Meriones libycus (3 diseases), Rhombomys opimus (3 diseases), Cricetulus migratorius (3 diseases), and Nesokia indica (2 diseases).Conclusions/SignificanceThe results of this review indicate the importance of rodent-borne diseases in Iran. Considering notable diversity of rodents and their extensive distribution throughout the country, it is crucial to pay more attention to their role in spreading infectious diseases for better control of the diseases.
Highlights
Rodents are the largest order of living mammals, comprising approximately 42% of global mammalian biodiversity [1, 2]
This review showed that approximately half of the known rodent-borne diseases have been reported in Iran, half of which were reported both in humans and rodents
This review showed that among the rodent species, three commensal ones—R. norvegicus, M. musculus, and R. rattus—play an important role in the transmission of diseases to humans in Iran
Summary
Rodents are the largest order of living mammals, comprising approximately 42% of global mammalian biodiversity [1, 2]. Wilson and Reeder adopted a 5-suborder system, i.e., Sciuromorpha, Castorimorpha, Anomaluromorpha, Hystricomorpha, and Myomorpha, among which the last suborder is the biggest in terms of species richness and population numbers [2]. This suborder contains more than half of rodents’ species and almost a quarter of the identified mammalian species [1]. Rodents are small- to medium-sized mammals, with short reproductive cycle and large litters, as well as morphological and biological adaptations to different lifestyles (e.g., terrestrial, subterranean, gliding, etc.) and environments (e.g., semiaquatic, aquatic, or dry biotopes).
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