PREVALENCE OF LEPTOSPIRA AND OTHER ZOONOSES IN WILD BROWN-RATS ON UK FARMS

Wild brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) are frequently implicated in the s pread of Well's disease. Wild brown rats (n = 259) were trapped from 1 1 UK farms and tested for Leptospira spp. using a number of diagnostic tests. In total, 37 (14 %) rats were positive by at least one of the tests, which contrasts with the frequently reported prevalence of 50-7 0 % for wild rats in the UK. However (n < 510) wild rats trapped from the same farms were found to carry numerous other zoonotic pathogens, often at high prevalence. We suggest that it may be time to look beyon d Leptospira as the rat-borne risk to humans and livestock.