Seroprevalence of Rodent Pathogens in Wild Rats from the Island of St. Kitts, West Indies

Boey, Kenneth; Shiokawa, Kanae; Avsaroglu, Harutyun; Rajeev, Sreekumari

Exposure to 11 of 19 (57.9%) pathogens tested in the panel was detected, and 21 of the 22 (95.5%) rats sampled were positive for one or more pathogens tested (Table 1, Figure 2 Figure 2 ). No serological evidence of E. cuniculi, HTNV, LCMV, THV, MAV1, PVM, RCV/SDAV, and SeV was detected in any serum sample. Antibodies to significant zoonotic pathogens (HTNV and LCMV) were not detected in any of the samples. According to the serological results, one rat was negative for antibodies to all agents tested, and three rats were positive for antibodies to a single pathogen (two MAV2 and one RTV). Four rats were positive for antibodies to two tested pathogens, while 14 rats had antibodies against three or more of the pathogens tested. The highest number of pathogens detected was in a single rat with antibodies to seven pathogens. R. norvegicus had significantly higher prevalence of KRV (12/22; p ≤ 0.0066) and CARB (11/22; p ≤ 0.0073) compared to R. rattus (3/22 and 2/22, respectively). Fisher's exact test was the statistical method used due to the small sample size. There was no association identified between the presence of any pathogen and sex of the rat.