A Survey of Zoonotic Pathogens Carried by Non-Indigenous Rodents at the Interface of the Wet Tropics of North Queensland, Australia

A novel species of Brucella was first isolated from rodents in Wooroonooran National Park (WNP) in 1964, but subsequent efforts to reisolate it proved unsuccessful. Instead, this study identified a high prevalence of pathogenic Leptospira species (40%) and other zoonotic agents among non-indigenous rodents at the forest interface adjacent to WNP. The research trapped and sampled 70 rodents, detecting Salmonella choleraesuis ssp. arizonae in 14.29%, ectoparasites in 21.42%, and endoparasites in 87%. Notably, rodent-specific helminths Syphacia obvelata (2.86%) and Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (85.71%) were prevalent, along with multiple ectoparasite species known to transmit zoonotic pathogens like Rickettsia spp. Brucella and Coxiella burnetii were not detected, suggesting low prevalence below 12%. This is the first study of its kind in Australian wet-tropical forests, highlighting significant public health risks posed by rodent-borne diseases.

Chakma, S., Picard, J., Duffy, R., Constantinoiu, C., & Gummow, B. (2015). A Survey of Zoonotic Pathogens Carried by Non-Indigenous Rodents at the Interface of the Wet Tropics of North Queensland, Australia. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, 64(1), 185–193. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/tbed.12360