Systematic surveillance tools to reduce rodent pests in disadvantaged urban areas can empower communities and improve public health

Abstract Rodents have been reported to be associated with the transmission of major public health diseases as well as agricultural and economic losses. The lack of site-specific and national standardised rodent surveillance in several disadvantaged communities has rendered interventions targeted towards rodent control as often ineffective. Here, by using the example from a study in The Bahamas, we present a unique experience in which, through multidisciplinary and community engagement, we simultaneously developed a standardised national surveillance protocol, and performed two parallel but integrated activities: 1) eight days of theoretical and practical training of selected participants; and 2) a three-month post-training pilot rodent surveillance in the urban community of Over-the-Hill, Nassau, The Bahamas. In order to account for cultural and environmental conditions in The Bahamas, we modified the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) exterior and interior rodent evaluation form and other instruments that have been previously validated for evaluating rodent infestation (tracking plates and snap trapping) to test and to reach a standardised site-specific rodent surveillance protocol for The Bahamas. Our engagement with local communities pointed towards ownership problems, unapproved refuse storage, exposed garbage, sources of animal food, poor bulk wastes management and structural deficiencies as major factors fueling rodent proliferation in the study area. Accordingly, results from our pilot survey using a generalized linear model with a logistic link and binomially distributed error structure confirmed that these variables are significantly correlated with the rodent activities reported and monitored across the study area. Our successful experience could serve as a reference to encourage a standardised protocol for monitoring rodent activities in many disadvantaged urban settings of the Global South, while also aiding the holistic understanding of rodent proliferation. Through this case-study and pilot program, we advocate for the feasibility of developing sustainable rodent control interventions that can be acceptable for both local communities and public authorities, especially through the involvement of a multidisciplinary team of professionals and community members.