Urban Small Mammal Pathogen Dynamics in Singapore - Prevalence, Distribution, and Genetic Diversity

Abstract

The goals of this thesis are to identify pathogens that are present in the small mammal populations in urban environment of Singapore, the distribution of these pathogens throughout the island, and to the assess the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of these pathogens. These three components of data collection will be triangulated to assess the risk to human populations from zoonotic diseases. Small mammals were collected throughout a total of ten trapping locations over the period of three months. Rodents were euthanized according to guidelines specified by National Environmental Agency of Singapore. Organs and blood samples were harvested from collected rodents in order to extract DNA and RNA used in pathogen detection. PCR detection revealed several positive results for the presence of pathogens including Hantavirus, Trypanosoma, Rickettsia, Leptospirosis, Borrelia, and Anaplasmsa. These diseases are known to infect humans and may pose a threat to the public health of the Singaporean population.