Surveillance of Commensal Rat and Shrew Populations
in the Bangkok Area with References to Flea Index as the
Risk Indicator of Plague
CHANTRA SINGCHAI, DVM*, VANIDA DEESIN, Dr.Med.Sc**,
RA WEEW AN SRISA W AT, MSc**, SANAN YAMPUT, BSc***,
THEERA WIT PHANPHUWONG, Cert.Med.Tech**, PONGPAT PONGWATANAKULSIRI, MD****,
EIAM VIMUTISUNTHORN, MD****, PILAIPAN PUTHA VA THANA, PhD*****
Affiliation : * Division of Veterinary Public Health, Department of Health, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration,
** Department of Medical Entomology,
*** Department of Helminthology, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University,
**** Division of Disease Control, Department of Health, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Bangkok 10400,
***** Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand.
AbstractCommensal rats and shrews were trapped from 47 fresh food markets in Bangkok during the
two study periods in the same markets: 21 '' June to 28'h December 1999 and 1" March to 31" May 2000.
Trapping was performed using wire live traps on three consecutive nights in each period. The trapped
animals were identified for taxonomic species and flea infestation. Fleas were collected, identified and
counted. Four species of rodents: Rattus norvegicus, Rattus rattus, Rattus exulans and Mus musculus,
and one species of shrew: Suncus murinus were trapped in comparable numbers during the two study
periods. Among the 1177 animals trapped, 84.3 per cent were R. norvegicus. Regarding sex prevalence,
a higher number of female animals were trapped compared to males. Almost all the fleas collected
were Xenopsylla cheopis, and there were very few Ctenocephalides felis-felis. Flea index bz.sed on the
number of X. cheopis was 0.65 for all over Bangkok. Based on the geographical area of Bangkok, the
inner area had the highest rodent population and the highest flea index of 0.86. Therefore, the inner
region should be the priority for sanitation improvement.
Keywords : Commensal Rat and Shrew, Flea, Flea Index, Bangkok
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