Rattus norvegicusWIKIMEDIA, ROLAND ZHRats have a reputation for being filthy vermin. New data indicate that the rodent’s PR problem is at least somewhat deserved. Researchers working in New York City have found 18 viruses not previously known to science in a sample that comprised dozens of street rats. In addition, the scientists found pathogens that are typically food-borne, such as Escherichia coli, Clostridium difficile, and Salmonella enterica, and one virus, Seoul hantavirus, that had never been documented in New York.
“Everybody’s looking all over the world, in all sorts of exotic places, including us,” for animal pathogens that have the potential to infect humans, Ian Lipkin, Columbia University pathologist, told The New York Times. “But nobody’s looking right under our noses.”
Lipkin and colleagues examined 133 Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) that they caught at five sites around the city, publishing the results of their analysis in mBio yesterday (October 14). Among the novel, rat-borne viruses Lipkin’s team turned up were two that resembled the virus that causes hepatitis C. Although it’s too early to say whether the newly described viruses can infect humans, they may prove to be useful laboratory tools in studying hepatitis in model organisms. “These viruses may or may not have any ...
