Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-8zxtt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-11T03:07:13.977Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Prevalence of viral antibodies and helminths in field populations of house mice (Mus domesticus) in southeastern Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2009

G. R. Singleton ,
A. L. Smith ,
G. R. Shellam ,
N. Fitzgerald  and
W. J. Müller
G. R. Singleton
Affiliation:
Division of Wildlife and Ecology, CSIRO, PO Box S4 Lyneham, ACT, 2602, Australia
A. L. Smith
Affiliation:
Section of Comparative Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, PO Box 3333 New Haven, CT 06510, USA
G. R. Shellam
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia
N. Fitzgerald
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia
W. J. Müller
Affiliation:
INRE, Biometrics Unit, CSIRO, GPO Box 1666 Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

A 13-month study of wild mice (Mus domesticus) in wheatlands in southeastern Australia contrasted changes in the seroprevalence of antibody to 13 viruses and the occurrence of helminths with changes in their population dynamics. Mice were seropositive for mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), rotavirus, minute virus of mice (MVM), mouse adenovirus (MAdV), reovirus (reo 3), and murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV). The seroprevalences of all but rotavirus varied significantly with time and increased with host density. Near the end of the study, host density declined rapidly and the seroprevalence of MVM and reo 3 increased significantly. These two viruses had low seroprevalence when host survival was high and high seroprevalence when host survival was low, indicating they may play a role in regulating mouse populations. In the case of MVM, there was evidence of a viral epizootic during the decline in mouse abundance. The prevalence of four helminths (Taenia taeniaeformis, Syphacia obvelata, and Vampirolepis spp.) differed significantly with time but showed no apparent association with host density. These findings highlight the need for further study on the effect of viruses on the population dynamics of mice.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 110 , Issue 2 , April 1993 , pp. 399 - 417
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

References

REFERENCES

1.Singleton, GR.Redhead, TD. House mouse plagues. In: Noble, JC.Hradstoek, RA. eds. Mediterranean landscapes in Australia: mallee ecosystems and their management. Melbourne: CSIRO, 1989: 418 33.Google Scholar
2.Mutze, GJ.Mouse plagues in South Australian cereal-growing areas. I. Occurrence and distribution of plagues. Aust Wildl Res 1990: 16: 677–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Redhead, TD. Prevention of plagues of house mice in rural Australia. In: Prakash, I, ed. Rodent pest management. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 1988: 191–205).Google Scholar
4.Singleton, GR, McCallum, HI.The potential of Capillaria hepatica to control mouse plagues; laboratory and ecological studies and mathematical models. Parasitol Today 1990; 6: 190–3.Google Scholar
5.Barker, SC, Singleton, GR, Spratt, DM.Can the nematode Capillaria hepatica regulate abundance in wild house mice ? Results of enclosure experiments in southeastern Australia. Parasitology 1991; 103: 439–49.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Smith, AL, Singleton, GR, Hansen, GM, Shellam, GR. A serosurvey for viruses of laboratory rodents and Mycoplasma among populations of wild mice (Mus domesticus) in southeastern Australia. J Wildl Dis 1993; 29: In press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Singleton, GR, Redhead, TD. Structure and biology of mouse populations that plague irregularly: an evolutionary perspective. Biol J Linn Soc 1990; 41: 285–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Elton, C, Davis, DHS, Findlay, GM. An epidemic among voles (Microlus agrestis) on the Scottish border in the spring of 1934. J Anim Ecol 1935; 4: 277–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Elton, C, Ford, EB, Baker, JR, Gardiner, AD. The health and parasites of a wild mouse population. Proc Zool Soc Lond 1931: 657–721.Google Scholar
10.Boonstra, R, Krebs, CJ, Beacham, TD. Impact of botfly parasitism on Microtus lownsendii populations. Can J Zool 1980; 58: 1683–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Kaplan, C, Healing, TD, Evans, N, Healing, L, Prior, A. Evidence of infection by viruses in small British field rodents. J Hyg 1980; 84: 280–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Singleton, GR. Population dynamics of Mus musculus and its parasites in mallee wheatlands in Victoria during and after a drought. Aust Wildl Res 1985; 12: 437–45.Google Scholar
13.Deseoteaux, J-P, Mihok, S. Serological study on the prevalence of murine viruses in a population of wild meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus). J Wildl Dis 1980; 22: 314–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Mihok, S, Turner, BN, Iverson, SL. The characterization of vole population dynamics. Ecol Monog 1985; 55: 399–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.Krebs, CJ. Do changes in spacing behaviour drive population cycles in small mammals? In: Sibley, RM, Smith, RH, eds. Behavioural ecology. Oxford: Blackwell 1985: 295–312.Google Scholar
16.Lidicker, WZ JrSolving the enigma of microtine ‘cycles’. J Mamm 1988; 69: 225–35.Google Scholar
17.Anderson, RM, May, RM. Regulation and stability of host-parasite population interactions. I. Regulatory processes. J Anim Ecol 1978; 47: 219–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.McCallum, HI, Singleton, GR. Models to assess the potential of Capillaria hepatica to control population outbreaks of house mice. Parasitology 1989; 98: 425–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19.Scott, ME. An experimental and theoretical study of the dynamics of a mouse–nematode (Heligmosomoides polhgyrus)interaction. Parasitology 1990; 101: 75–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20.Scott, ME, Dobson, A. The role of parasites in regulating host abundance. Parasitol Today 1989; 5: 176–83.Google Scholar
21.Bhatt, PN, Jacoby, RO, Morse, HC III, New, AE. Viral and mycoplasmal infections of laboratory rodents. Orlando, Florida: Academic Press, 1986.Google Scholar
22.Singleton, GR. Population dynamics of an outbreak of house mice (Mus domesticus) in the mallee wheatlands of Australia – hypothesis of plague formation. J Zool Lond 1989; 219: 495–515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.Caughley, GC. Analysis of vertebrate populations. London: John Wiley & Sons, 1977: 20.Google Scholar
24.Cannon, RM, Roe, RT. Livestock disease surveys; a field manual for veterinarians. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1982: 16.Google Scholar
25.Margolis, L, Holmes, JC, Esch, AM, Kuris, AM, Sehad, GA. The use of ecological terms in parasitology (report to an ad hoc committee of the American Society of Parasitologists). J Parasit 1982; 68: 131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26.Dobson, AJ. An introduction to generalized linear models. London: Chapman & Hall, 1990.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27.Sinclair, ARE, Olsen, PD, Redhead, TD. Can predators regulate small mammal populations ? Evidence from house mouse outbreaks in Australia. Oikos 1991; 59: 382–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28.Tattersall, P, Cotmore, SF. The rodent parvoviruses. In: Bhatt, PN, Jacoby, RO, Morse, HC III, New, AE, eds. Viral and mycoplasmal infections of laboratory rodents – effects on biomedical research. Orlando: Academic Press, 1986: 305–48.Google Scholar
29.Newsome, AE. A population study of house-mice temporarily inhabiting a South Australian wheatfield. J Anim Ecol 1969; 38: 341–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30.Tann, CR, Singleton, GR, Coman, BJ. Diet of the house mouse. Mus domesticus. in the mallee wheatlands of north-western Victoria. Wildl Res 1991: 18: 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31.Bomford, M. Food and reproduction of wild house mice. I. Diet and breeding seasons in various habitats on irrigated cereal farms in New South Wales. Anst Wildl Res 1987: 14: 183–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
32.Pena-Cruz, V, Reiss, CS. Mclntosh, K.Sendai virus infection of mice with protein malnutrition. J Virol 1989: 63: 3541–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
33.Teo, HK, Price, P, Papadimitriou, JM. The eifeets ofprotein malnutrition on the pathogenesis of murine cytomegalovirus disease. Int J Exp Path 1991: 72: 67–82.Google Scholar
34.Schoeb, TR, Lindsey, JR. Exacerbation of murine respiratory mycoplasmosis by sialodacryoadenitis virus infection in gnotobiotic F344 rats. Vet Path 1987: 24: 392–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
35.Schoeb, TR, Kervin, KC, Lindsey, JR. Exacerbation of murine respiratory mycoplasmosis in gnotobiotic F344/N rats by Sendai virus infection. Vet Path 1985: 22: 272 82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
36.Carrano, VA, Barthold, SW, Beck, DS, Smith, AL. Alteration of viral respiratory infections by prior infection with mouse hepatitis virus. Lab Anim Sci 1985: 34: 573 6.Google Scholar
37.Garlinghouse, LE, Smith, AL. Responses of mice susceptible or resistant to lethal infection with mouse hepatitis virus, strain JHM, after exposure by a natural route. Lab Anim Sci 1985: 35: 469–72.Google Scholar
38.Barthold, SW, Smith, AL. Viremic dissemination of mouse hepatitis virus-JHM following intranasal inoculation of mice. Arch Virol 1992: 122: 35–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
39.Foster, HL, Small, JD, Fox, JG. The mouse in biomedical research. Volume II Diseases. New York: Academic Press. 1982.Google Scholar