Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, South Africa.
Kirstenbosch Research Centre, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Cape Town, South Africa.
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2023 Nov;23(11):551-560. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2023.0024. Epub 2023 Aug 29.
Pet and feeder rodents are one of the main sources of emerging infectious diseases. These rodents are purchased from pet shops, breeders, and online. Consequently, some of these rodents may subtly transmit diseases as they may be asymptomatic to certain pathogens. We systematically searched four academic databases viz. Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus to determine zoonotic pathogens associated with pet and feeder rodents globally. Our searches were performed in R statistical software using the packages "metagear" and "revtool". We found 62 studies reporting on zoonotic pathogens between 1973 and 2022 from 16 countries representing 4 continents, namely Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America. The review identified 30 zoonotic pathogens isolated from pet and feeder rodents, including the African pygmy mouse (), brown rat (), and the house mouse (). The greatest number of pathogens was reported from the United States, followed by Togo and the United Kingdom. Bacterial pathogens were the most prevalent. However, the Seoul virus and rat bite fever () were the most studied pathogens, found in more than one country, with reported outbreak cases. Most of the zoonotic pathogens were isolated from rodents acquired from pet shops. We recommend that pet and feeder rodents purchased from pet shops should be regularly screened for potential zoonotic pathogens as some of these animals may not show clinical signs of the illness. There is also a critical need to develop strict regulations and policies, especially in underdeveloped and developing regions for an effective surveillance process, which will include early detection, rapid response, and control of zoonotic diseases globally.
宠物和饲养啮齿动物是新兴传染病的主要来源之一。这些啮齿动物可以从宠物店、饲养者和网上购买。因此，其中一些啮齿动物可能会在不知不觉中传播疾病，因为它们可能对某些病原体没有症状。
我们系统地搜索了四个学术数据库，即 Google Scholar、PubMed、Web of Science 和 Scopus，以确定全球与宠物和饲养啮齿动物相关的人畜共患病病原体。我们的搜索是在 R 统计软件中使用“metagear”和“revtool”包进行的。
我们发现了 62 项研究报告，这些研究报告涉及 1973 年至 2022 年间来自 16 个国家的人畜共患病病原体，这些国家代表了四大洲，即非洲、欧洲、亚洲和北美洲。该综述从宠物和饲养啮齿动物中鉴定出 30 种人畜共患病原体，包括非洲小囊鼠（）、褐家鼠（）和小家鼠（）。报告的病原体数量最多的是美国，其次是多哥和英国。细菌病原体最为普遍。然而，汉城病毒和鼠咬热（）是研究最多的病原体，在一个以上的国家都有报道的暴发病例。大多数人畜共患病原体是从宠物店购买的啮齿动物中分离出来的。
我们建议，应定期对从宠物店购买的宠物和饲养啮齿动物进行筛查，以检测潜在的人畜共患病原体，因为这些动物中的一些可能没有表现出疾病的临床症状。还需要制定严格的法规和政策，特别是在欠发达和发展中地区，以进行有效的监测，包括全球范围内的早期检测、快速反应和控制人畜共患疾病。
