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A comparative assessment of track plates to quantify fine scale variations in the relative abundance of Norway rats in urban slums

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Abstract

Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) living in urban environments are a critical public health and economic problem, particularly in urban slums where residents are at a higher risk for rat borne diseases, yet convenient methods to quantitatively assess population sizes are lacking. We evaluated track plates as a method to determine rat distribution and relative abundance in a complex urban slum environment by correlating the presence and intensity of rat-specific marks on track plates with findings from rat infestation surveys and trapping of rats to population exhaustion. To integrate the zero-inflated track plate data we developed a two-component mixture model with one binary and one censored continuous component. Track plate mark-intensity was highly correlated with signs of rodent infestation (all coefficients between 0.61 and 0.79 and all p-values < 0.05). Moreover, the mean level of pre-trapping rat-mark intensity on plates was significantly associated with the number of rats captured subsequently (Odds ratio1.38; 95 % CI 1.19–1.61) and declined significantly following trapping (Odds ratio 0.86; 95 % CI 0.78–0.95). Track plates provided robust proxy measurements of rat abundance and distribution and detected rat presence even when populations appeared ‘trapped out’. Tracking plates are relatively easy and inexpensive methods that can be used to intensively sample settings such as urban slums, where traditional trapping or mark-recapture studies are impossible to implement, and therefore the results can inform and assess the impact of targeted urban rodent control campaigns.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank team member from Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Iohama Paim, Arsinoe Pertile as well as the Zoonosis Control Center Luciano Souza Lima, Lucineide Xavier, and Sheila Cova who participated in the data collection for the study. We would also like to thank Nivison Nery Jr. for their assistance with database processing and management and Steven Belmain for his advice in designing the study. This work could not be accomplished without the joint collaborative effort of the resident associations, community leaders and residents, which constitute the Urban Health Council of Pau da Lima. We would like to thank the Global Leptospirosis Environmental Action Network (GLEAN). This work was supported by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation and Secretariat of Health Surveillance, Brazilian Ministry of Health, the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies Doctoral Dissertation Improvement program, the Fulbright Fellowship program, the National Institutes of Health (grants F31 AI114245, R01 AI052473, U01 AI088752, R01 TW009504, and R25 TW009338) and by the Wellcome Trust [102330/Z/13/Z].

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, 60 College St, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA

      Kathryn P. Hacker, Peter J. Diggle, James E. Childs, Albert I. Ko & Federico Costa

    2. Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK, L69 7ZB

      Amanda Minter, Mike Begon, Peter J. Diggle & Federico Costa

    3. Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, UFBA, Salvador, Brasil, 40.110-040 (SS)

      Soledad Serrano

    4. Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde, Salvador, Brasil, 40296-710

      Mitermayer G. Reis, Albert I. Ko & Federico Costa

    5. Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal da Bahia, UFBA, Salvador, Brasil, 40.110-040

      Mitermayer G. Reis & Federico Costa

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    1. Kathryn P. Hacker
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    2. Amanda Minter
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    Correspondence to Federico Costa.

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    Kathryn P. Hacker and Amanda Minter contributed equally to this work.

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    Hacker, K.P., Minter, A., Begon, M. et al. A comparative assessment of track plates to quantify fine scale variations in the relative abundance of Norway rats in urban slums. Urban Ecosyst 19, 561–575 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-015-0519-8

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