Rodent-borne diseases and their public health importance in Iran

• Published in: PLoS neglected tropical diseases Vol. 12; no. 4; p. e0006256
• Main Authors: Rabiee, Mohammad Hasan, Mahmoudi, Ahmad, Siahsarvie, Roohollah, Kryštufek, Boris, Mostafavi, Ehsan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 19.04.2018; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Agricultural development; Animals; Apodemus; Arthropods; Bacterial diseases; Biology and Life Sciences; Climate change; Disease Reservoirs; Diseases; Distribution; Earth Sciences; Environmental aspects; Epidemiology; Genomes; Health risks; Humans; Hymenolepiasis - epidemiology; Hystricomorpha; Industrial development; Infections; Infectious diseases; Information processing; Iran - epidemiology; Laboratories; Leishmania; Leishmaniasis; Leishmaniasis - epidemiology; Leptospirosis; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mice; Microtus; Mitochondrial DNA; Myomorpha; Parasitic diseases; Parasitoses; People and Places; Physiological aspects; Plague; Plague - epidemiology; Public Health; Rats; Rattus rattus; Review; Rhombomys opimus; Risk factors; Rodent Diseases - epidemiology; Rodent Diseases - transmission; Rodentia; Rodents; Scientific papers; Sciuromorpha; Search engines; Tropical diseases; Tularemia; Vector-borne diseases; Viral diseases; Viroses; Zoonoses; Zoonoses - epidemiology; Zoonoses - transmission; Iran; Slovenia; Caspian Sea; Persian Gulf; Iranian Plateau; Europe
• ISSN: 1935-2735; 1935-2727; 1935-2735
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006256

Rodents 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. We 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). The 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.