Evaluation of the impact of chemical control on the ecology of Rattus norvegicus of an urban community in Salvador, Brazil.

BACKGROUND: The presence of synanthropic rodents, such as Rattus norvegicus, in urban environments generates high costs of prophylaxis and control, in large part due to the environmental transmission of the pathogenic spirochete Leptospira interrogans, which causes leptospirosis. In Salvador, Brazil, The Center for Control of Zoonosis (CCZ) is responsible for planning and implementing Rodent Control Programs (RCP) which are based on chemical rodenticide. However, these strategies have not been standardized for use in developing countries. AIM: This study aimed to identify the effect of a chemical control campaign on the demographic variables of urban R. norvegicus, analyzing relative abundance, sex structure, body mass, and age of the population, as well as the characterization of spatial distribution among households, rodent capture campaigns and interventions. METHODS: This study was carried out during 2015 in three valleys of an urban poor community in Salvador. Individuals of R. norvegicus were systematically captured before (Pre-intervention) and three months (1st post-intervention) and six months (2nd post-intervention) after a chemical control intervention conducted by the CCZ in two valleys of the study area while the third valley was not included in the intervention campaign and was used as a non-intervention reference. We used analysis of variance to determine if intervention affected demographic variables and chi-square to compare proportions of infested households (Rodent infestation index-PII). RESULTS: During the chemical intervention, 939 households were visited. In the pre-intervention campaign, an effort of 310 trap nights resulted in 43 rodents captured, and in the 1st and 2nd, post-intervention campaigns resulted in 47 rodents captured over 312 trap nights and 36 rodents captured over 324 traps-nights, respectively. The rodent infestation index (PII) points did not show a reduction between the period before the intervention and the two periods after the chemical intervention (70%, 72%, and 65%, respectively). Regarding relative abundances, there was no difference between valleys and period before and two periods after chemical intervention (trap success valley 1: 0,18; 0,19; 0,18 / Valley 3 0,15; 0,17; 0,13/ P>0,05). Other demographic results showed that there was no difference in demographic characteristics of the rodent population before and after the intervention, as well as there being no influence of the application of rodenticide on the areas of concentration of capture of rodents between the campaigns. CONCLUSION: Our study indicates that the chemical control was not effective in controlling the population of R. norvegicus and provides evidence of the need for re-evaluation of rodent control practices in urban poor community settings.

Population dynamics of synanthropic rodents after a chemical and infrastructural intervention in an urban low-income community.

Synanthropic rodents are ubiquitous in low-income communities and pose risks for human health, as they are generally resistant to control programs. However, few or no studies have evaluated the long-term effect of chemical and infrastructural interventions on rodent population dynamics, especially in urban low-income communities, or evaluated the potential recovery of their population following interventions. We conducted a longitudinal study in a low-income community in the city of Salvador (BA, Brazil) to characterize the effect of interventions (chemical and infrastructural) on the dynamics of rodent population, and documented the post-intervention recovery of their population. We evaluated the degree of rodent infestation in 117 households/sampling points over three years (2014-2017), using tracking plates, a proxy for rodent abundance/activity. We reported a significant lower rodent activity/abundance after the chemical and infrastructural interventions (Z = -4.691 (p < 0.001)), with track plate positivity decreasing to 28% from 70% after and before interventions respectively. Therefore, the combination of chemical and infrastructural interventions significantly decreased the degree of rodent infestation in the study area. In addition, no rodent population rebound was recorded until almost a year post-intervention, and the post-intervention infestation level did not attain the pre-intervention level all through the study. Moreover, among pre-treatment conditions, access to sewer rather than the availability of food was the variable most closely associated with household rodent infestation. Our study indicates that Integrated Pest Management (IPM)-approaches are more effective in reducing rodent infestation than the use of a single method. Our findings will be useful in providing guidance for long-term rodent control programs, especially in urban low-income communities.