Rodents are known to be reservoir hosts for at least 60 zoonotic diseases and are known to play an important role in their transmission and spread in different ways. We sampled different rodent communities within and around human settlements in Northern Senegal, an area subjected to major environmental transformations associated with global changes. Herein, we conducted an epidemiological study on their bacterial communities. One hundred and seventy-one (171) invasive and native rodents were captured, 50 from outdoor trapping sites and 121 rodents from indoor habitats, consisting of five species. The DNA of thirteen pathogens was successfully screened on the rodents’ spleens. We found: 2.3% of spleens positive to Piroplasmida and amplified one which gave a potentially new species Candidatus “Theileria senegalensis”; 9.35% of Bartonella spp. and amplified 10, giving three genotypes; 3.5% of filariasis species; 18.12% of Anaplasmataceae species and amplified only 5, giving a new potential species Candidatus “Ehrlichia senegalensis”; 2.33% of Hepatozoon spp.; 3.5% of Kinetoplastidae spp.; and 15.2% of Borrelia spp. and amplified 8 belonging all to Borrelia crocidurae. Some of the species of pathogens carried by the rodents of our studied area may be unknown because most of those we have identified are new species. In one bacterial taxon, Anaplasma, a positive correlation between host body mass and infection was found. Overall, male and invasive rodents appeared less infected than female and native ones, respectively.

A capture–mark–release program was run for 3 years in a rice-growing area of the inner delta of the Niger River in central Mali to monitor populatio

Multi-mammate rats (Muridae, Murinae, Mastomys spp.) are Sub-Saharan pest rodents, the systematics of which has long remained confused due to poor morphologic differentiation. Cytotaxonomy and DNA sequencing have provided excellent diagnostic markers for species identification, thus improving the assessment of taxonomic diversity within the genus. In West and Central Africa, three species have been unambiguously identified and are now well documented: Mastomys erythroleucus, Mastomys natalensis and Mastomys huberti. However, recent studies suggest the existence of two other taxa on the basis of morphology, DNA sequencing (Mastomys verheyeni, from Nigeria and Northern Cameroon) or karyotypes (Mastomys cf. kollmannspergeri, from Northern Niger and Chad). In order to clarify the systematic status of the latter taxa, we collected all the available cytotaxonomic as well as cytochrome b sequencing data to which were added results obtained from recently trapped specimens in Northern Cameroon. Our combined molecular and cytogenetic analyses unambiguously confirm the presence of another Mastomys species inhabiting various habitats in Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Sudan. This taxon is clearly differentiated from M. erythroleucus, M. huberti and M. natalensis. Furthermore, the inclusion in our analysis of two M. verheyeni paratypes as well as individuals trapped in close vicinity to the type locality of M. kollmannspergeri supports the assignation of all specimens to M. kollmanspergeri, thus making M. verheyeni its junior synonym. Our study once again highlights the reliability of DNA- and karyotype-based methods to accurately assess specific diversity in African rodents, particularly in the Mastomys genus, which shelters several species of agricultural and epidemiological importance.