Francisella tularensis Major rodent- and lagomorph-related bacterial and rickettsial agents

Public Health Significance of Urban Pests 441 bats, and bites from these animals are the most common sources of human infection. Rodents and lagomorphs also occasionally contract rabies from these sources and poten- tially could pass these infections to people handling these animals, although the risk is thought to be very low Cappucci, Emmons Sampson, 1972; Fleming Caslick, 1978; Roher et al., 1981; Dowda DiSalvo, 1984; Fishbein et al., 1986; Moro et al., 1991; Childs et al., 1997; Zaikovskaia et al., 2005.

13.4.2. Major rodent- and lagomorph-related bacterial and rickettsial agents

The following subsections discuss the major rodent-related bacterial and rickettsial agents that are believed to cause illness in people in Europe or North America.

13.4.2.1. Francisella tularensis

Tularaemia occurs endemically in much of Europe and North America Petersen Schriefer, 2005. The causative organism, F. tularensis, is a Gram-negative bacterium that occurs in a large variety of wild rodent species, as well as in rabbits and hares Hopla, 1974; Morner, 1992; Hopla Hopla, 1994; Ellis et al., 2002. People are likely to become infec- ted through handling infected animals especially rabbits and hares, ingesting contami- nated water or food, or being bitten by an infectious arthropod vector, most often a tick, although biting flies and mosquitoes also have been implicated as vectors in the western United States and Europe, respectively. In the United States, lagomorphs particularly Sylvilagus spp. are commonly infected and, along with their ticks, are particularly impor- tant in the ecology of type A tularaemia strains F. tularensis tularensis, which are often vector-borne. This form of the tularaemia bacterium, certain strains of which cause the most severe cases of tularaemia, occurs only in North America and is most likely to be vec- tor-borne. In addition to their association with lagomorphs, tularaemia cases in people in North America have also been frequently associated with outbreaks in muskrats, Canadian beavers and voles Microtusspp.. Tularaemia strains found in these animals are typically type B F. tularensis holarctica, which are often waterborne, cause less severe dis- ease than many type-A strains and are found throughout much of North America, nor- thern Asia and Europe. Francisella tularensishas also been recognized in ground squirrels and prairie dogs in North America Jellison, 1974; Peterson et al., 2004. The species most commonly found infected in urban settings and surrounding areas in Europe are rabbits and voles, including water voles and common voles Microtus spp.. In North America, tularaemia infections also have occurred in primates that live in zoos, and the most likely source of infection in one of these incidents was thought to be Richardson’s ground squir- rels Spermophilus richardsoni that lived within the zoo Nayar, Crawshaw Neufeld, 1979. Outbreaks of tularaemia in people have been reported frequently from certain European nations and regions, including Spain in 1997 and 1998 585 and 19 cases, respectively and Sweden in 2000 270 cases Anda et al., 2001; Bossi et al., 2004. The 1997 and 1998 Spanish outbreaks involved the handling of infected hares and crayfish, respectively Anda et al., 2001. The Swedish outbreaks have been linked to contact with infected hares or voles, or the bites of infectious mosquitoes. In the United States, a total of 1368 cases were reported between 1990 and 2000, although most public health officials believe Non-commensal rodents and lagomorphs 440

13.4.1.3. California group viruses primarily La Crosse virus