{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,28]],"date-time":"2026-02-28T04:31:55Z","timestamp":1772253115786,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,8]],"date-time":"2021-11-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1636329600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["TropicalMed"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The plague caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium is primarily a flea-transmitted zoonosis of rodents that can also be conveyed to humans and other mammals. In this work, we analyzed the spatial and temporal distribution of rodent populations during epizootic and enzootic periods of the plague in the municipality of Exu, northeastern Brazil. The geospatial analyses showed that all the rodent species appeared through the whole territory of the municipality, with different occurrence hotspots for the different species. Important fluctuations in the rodent populations were observed, with a reduction in the wild rodent fauna following the end of a plague epizootic period, mostly represented by Necromys lasiurus and an increase in the commensal species Rattus rattus. A higher abundance of rats might lead to an increased exposure of human populations, favoring spillovers of plague and other rodent-borne diseases. Our analysis highlights the role of wild rodent species as amplifier hosts and of commensal rats (R. rattus) as preserver hosts in the enzootic period of a specific transmission infection area.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed6040195","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,8]],"date-time":"2021-11-08T22:08:41Z","timestamp":1636409321000},"page":"195","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Rodents during the Epizootic and Enzootic Periods of Plague, with a Focus on Exu, Northeastern Brazil"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"6","author":[{"given":"Diego Leandro Reis da Silva","family":"Fernandes","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Institute Aggeu Magalh\u00e3es\u2014Fiocruz PE, Recife 50740-467, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Matheus Filgueira","family":"Bezerra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Institute Aggeu Magalh\u00e3es\u2014Fiocruz PE, Recife 50740-467, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2846-8687","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bruna Mendes","family":"Duarte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Institute Aggeu Magalh\u00e3es\u2014Fiocruz PE, Recife 50740-467, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mayara Paes","family":"de Fran\u00e7a Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Institute Aggeu Magalh\u00e3es\u2014Fiocruz PE, Recife 50740-467, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hadassa","family":"de Almeida Souza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Institute Aggeu Magalh\u00e3es\u2014Fiocruz PE, Recife 50740-467, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elainne Christine","family":"de Souza Gomes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Parasitology, Institute Aggeu Magalh\u00e3es\u2014Fiocruz PE, Recife 50740-467, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alzira Maria Paiva","family":"de Almeida","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Institute Aggeu Magalh\u00e3es\u2014Fiocruz PE, Recife 50740-467, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e00044-19","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.00044-19","article-title":"Yersinia pestis: The Natural History of Plague","volume":"34","author":"Barbieri","year":"2020","journal-title":"Clin. 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