What diseases are spread by rodents?
Rodents have been known to spread a variety of diseases either as vectors or by contamination. Probably the most important disease spread by rodents is Salmonella food poisoning, which is one of the most wide-spread of animalborne diseases. A significant percentage of the brown rat population carry a micro-organism in the kidney which, if passed on to humans, can result in Weils Disease (leptospirosis). Other diseases transmitted to humans include rat-bite fever, murine typhus and the infamous Bubonic Plague (The Black Death). The black rat was originally responsible for spreading (via infected fleas) the Bubonic Plague across Europe in the Middle Ages. There are also a number of diseases passed onto livestock by rodents including foot and mouth disease. Parasites may also be carried and transmitted by rodents including ringworm, mites, nematodes, tapeworms, ticks and fleas.
