Mapping the distribution of the important rodents reservoir in Iran

ABSTRACT

Far from the economic importance, rodents can play an important role in distribution of some infectious diseases, called Rodent borne diseases. These diseases are also considered as zoonosis. Some of these diseases can transmitted from other animals to humans, but rodents considered as the reservoir host of Rodent borne diseases. Knowledge on rodents' reservoir and their distributions will provide a clue for people who work in the field such as farmers and soldiers. The importance of rodents and plague has been uncovered to people particularly in wartime. The experiences of the Imposed War also indicated the widespread of exposure of fully trained military units to cutaneous leishmaniasis; it was due to the trench construction and destruction of rodent borrows and nests near the endemic areas in Shoosh [hills of Do-salak]. Apart from the name Do-salak, which refer to the endemicity of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Persian word, there are other diseases indicate the role of rodents reservoirs during the wartime such as plague, tick- borne relapsing fever, murine typhus and some parasitic diseases.However, the prevention of such diseases should be started in peacetime with increase in knowledge particularly in geography and biology of rodents among peers and practitioners who work in the military medicine teams. Although a Comprehensive study that had conducted by Etemad in 1977, provided a baseline information in Iran, but there is still need for updating the information. The aim of this study is mapping the distribution of 17 important species rodents using ArcGIS software. In this approach, we provided distribution maps for 17 medically important species of rodents in the country