RODENTS

Rodents are mammals characterized by upper and lower pairs of ever-growing rootless incisor teeth. Rodents are the largest group of mammals, constituting almost half of the class Mammalia’s approximately 4,660 species.

Rodents can be reservoirs for many pathogens that may cause disease, like Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, leptospirosis, and others, in humans. They can also carry arthropods, such as fleas, mites and ticks that can also carry pathogens which cause additional public health diseases such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Q fever and others.