Population and chigger mite infection of rodents in Pudong New Area， Shanghai

Abstract

ObjectiveTo investigate the population and chigger mite infection of rodents in Pudong District， Shanghai， so as to provide the scientific basis for the prevention and control of rodents and chigger transmitted diseases.MethodsThe monitoring work was conducted in four points including Xuanqiao， Hangtou， Laogang and Nanhui New Town with night trapping method from 2020 to 2022. Habitats as farmland， wasteland， rural residential areas， and parks were selected. The rodent species were identified and rodent density was calculated. All chigger mites were collected from the earlaps and auricular fossae of the rodents. The species of chigger mites were identified and the chigger mite index was calculated.ResultsA total of 222 rodents were captured. They belonged to 5 species， 4 genera， 2 families and 2 orders， including 4 species， 3 genera， and 1 family of Rodentia and 1 species of Insectivora. M. musculus was the dominant species， with a composition ratio of 54.05%. Total 80 chigger mites were captured， with a detection rate of 36.03%. The total chigger index was 0.36 and Rattus tanezumi held the highest （6.00）， followed by M. musculus （0.48）. There were 3 species of chigger mites， L.deliense， L.scutellare， and L.gaohuense. L.deliense was the dominant specie， accounting for 55.00%.ConclusionThere is a risk of chigger-borne disease transmission in Pudong New Area with M. musculus as the dominant host and L. deliense as the dominant species.

Keywords

• rodent
• chigger mite
• chigger index
• species