Papers by MOHAN RAO Arasada
J. Communicable Diseases 55(2): 76-82, 2023
Rodents are the largest group of mammals with approximately 4,660 species. The impact of these sp... more Rodents are the largest group of mammals with approximately 4,660 species. The impact of these species on human populations leads to big threats to the national economy and health. Crops are damaged before harvest, stored food is contaminated by rodent wastes, and burrowing buildings and pieces of furniture are damaged by the gnawing nature of rodents. From the point of view of human health, certain species are reservoirs for diseases such as plague, murine typhus, scrub typhus, tularaemia, rat-bite fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and Lassa fever, among others. In the present manuscript, an attempt is made to highlight the recent advances in rodent vector management for food and human health.
Regional plan on Mitigation of Bamboo flowering probems, 2007
It is well established that certain species of bamboo flower at systematic periods that lead to f... more It is well established that certain species of bamboo flower at systematic periods that lead to famines in the past. Mautak flowering happened in 6 North Eastern States of India during 2005 till 2009 and Govt of India made a Plan for mitigating the problems in collaboration with Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with concerned NE State.
Pestology 67 (4): 25-29, 2023
Climate changes are leading to changes in global temperature and precipitation. Such changes are ... more Climate changes are leading to changes in global temperature and precipitation. Such changes are leading to droughts, floods, increase in zoonotic and infectious diseases besides reducing crop yields (due to pest outbreaks). Indian situation is reviewed and strategies to combat are suggested
Organisms adapt and evolve in response to environmental changes. Current changes in the environme... more Organisms adapt and evolve in response to environmental changes. Current changes in the environment occur at a rate and scale that are closer to those of mass extinction rather than of normal, background extinction. The response of species to global changes will depend on their ability to disperse and to acclimatize, as well as on their evolvability. The current view is that the high rate of current environmental changes impedes the evolutionary processes of adaptation to new conditions. Rodents, however, show a high potential to successfully adapt to changing environments over various time scales, including very rapid responses thanks to various characteristics of their life history, traits and plasticity. This paper briefly reviews the processes that allow rodents to respond to the challenges of changing environments, from the instantaneous plastic response to the paleontological perspective of long term evolution. Rodents indeed include very opportunistic and highly evolvable species, which may successfully overcome the ongoing changes, although some specialist species will inevitably be the victim of the adjustment of the communities to the human-driven modification of their environments.
WORK HIGHLIGHTS IN EMERGENCY TCP ON VOLE (RODENT) CONTROL IN ARMENIA DURING 2003, 2003
Activities of situation analysis on Vole problem in Armenia are detailed.
Indian Pest Control Association Convention, 1918
These pests act as vectors in urban and urbanizing rural areas transmitting bacterial, viral, pro... more These pests act as vectors in urban and urbanizing rural areas transmitting bacterial, viral, protozoan and nematode borne illnesses due to food and water contamination, body fluids and bites of their ectoparasites. The diseases include plague, salmonellosis, leptospirosis, brucellosis, scrub typhus, Hanta hemorrhagic fevers, Leishmaniasis, Helminth parasitic infections etc. They are omnivorous and feed on anything available to them. The paper discussed in various issued to tackle in human habitations
REPORT ON ICAR REGIONAL REVIEW MEETING ON RODENT PEST MANAGEMENT FOR NEH REGION IN CONTEXT WITH GREGARIOUS BAMBOO FLOWERING, 2006
Academia Letters, 2021
Cellulose based rodenticides (an energy level inhibitor) was evaluated against the black rat, Rat... more Cellulose based rodenticides (an energy level inhibitor) was evaluated against the black rat, Rattus rattus Linnaeus , a major commensal rodent pest in India as an eco-friendly product. A Pilot screening feeding trial was conducted using cellulose bait pellets when fed consecutively for 8 days for bait acceptance and mortality among house rats. The average consumption of pellet bait varied from 21 to 33 g (mean 25.95 + 1.44 g) by both the sexes of Rattus rattus. The mortality occurred from the 4th day to 11th day of feeding with a maximum on the fourth day in both sexes of rats. The results suggest that it could be a potent rodenticide for controlling House rats in common storage areas and public places (with protected bait stations) due to absence of secondary/accidental toxicity issues.
Rodents are vertebrates (under the animal classification of Mammalia) with a vertebral column sim... more Rodents are vertebrates (under the animal classification of Mammalia) with a vertebral column similar to birds, fish, wild animals etc. They are smaller mammals with a habit of gnawing the food and nonedible items to arrest the perennially growing incisor teeth (@0.4 mm/day normally). These rodents could be identified easily by their morphology (particularly dentition of 1003/1003), burrows, and other features. Urban Rodent Species of Economic Importance The most common rodents playing the role of a pest/vector in towns and cities are Rattus rattus (House rat), Rattus norvegicus (Norway rat), Mus musculus (House mouse), Bandicota indica, and Bandicot abengalensis.
Journal of Dairy, Veterinary & Animal Research, 2015
Many poor and middle class farmers in developing countries are taking up poultry since the indust... more Many poor and middle class farmers in developing countries are taking up poultry since the industry has become a major source of income. Poor quality sheds and their proximity to the crop fields and village habitats result in migration of premise pests like flies, cockroaches, rodents in to the poultry environment contributing to significant losses. Among them rodents take primary share due to their role as pests as well as vectors. They make both qualitative and quantitative losses by feed and egg consumption, losses to the structures, nuisance value causing loss of productivity in the farms. In addition, they transmit dreaded disease like Salmonellosis Pasteurellosis, Mycoplasmosis, Hemorrhagic enteritis, Hymenolepiasis, Capilariasis, and Ascaridiasis to the birds. A Global level review was made on different rodent species responsible for these losses, the characteristic features of major pests. The procedures involved in inspection of the poultry premises and assessing the rodent infestation were spelled out to facilitate planning the rodent management measures. The available management practices of prevention of these unwanted creatures in to the poultry premises along with curative practices viz., using traps and rodenticides were spelled out. It is expected that by managing rodent pests/vectors, both food and health security would be ensured.
J. Communicable Doseases 2021
Different sections of society for prevalence of Covid-19 infections were studied using the method... more Different sections of society for prevalence of Covid-19 infections were studied using the methodology of SARS Covid 2 virus surveillance. Detailed discussion was made on the disease prevalence in these societies which include health care personnel as well as police.
Chemicals for the management of rodent pests and vectors
A castor based botanical vertebrate repellant was evaluated for its efficacy to repel rodent pest... more A castor based botanical vertebrate repellant was evaluated for its efficacy to repel rodent pests and found that it is about 80% effective.
India stands at 90,927 confirmed cases of Covid-19 infection with WHO classification of clusters ... more India stands at 90,927 confirmed cases of Covid-19 infection with WHO classification of clusters of cases. The governments around the world including India are mostly testing only people showing symptoms of flu, which are underestimating the real numbers due to presence of asymptomatic humans under virus incubation period. Random surveillance testing should, therefore, start as soon as possible to establish the mortality rate and virality of the Coronavirus. Such surveillance for Covid-19 provides valuable early warning information about the spread of the virus and also reduces the uncertainty surrounding the true extent of the pandemic and its mortality rate. Considered one of the most reliable forms of data collection, surveillance testing is takes small number of demographically representative random people to use as an estimate for the whole population. Due to these reasons, attempt was made to develop a model for Covid-19 virus surveillance using rapid antibody testing method for screening the human populations on disease prevalence, which can be followed by rRT-PCR testing. This screening method was test checked in virtual situation in Qutbullapur Municipality of Medak district, Telangana state, wherein three different areas-High risk, Moderate risk and Low risk, each having 3 km area were identified in the Municipality with 2118 houses and projections were made for virtual sampling in 4 replicated unit areas. The projection of cost analysis came as Rs. 11,900 for first round rapid sample collection from randomly selected houses in entire Municipality, which appeared as a feasible financial projection for a disease like Covid-19. Major town/cities can consider to adopt this as surveillance method for covid-19 virus.
Preventive measures for leptospirosis: Rodent control
Indian Journal of Medical Microbiology, 2006
... 325-328. Supplement. Preventive measures for leptospirosis: Rodent control. Mohan Rao AMK. ..... more ... 325-328. Supplement. Preventive measures for leptospirosis: Rodent control. Mohan Rao AMK. ... Permanent bait stations with pre-fabricated cement molds were developed at Tirumala[19] for rodent control and are now being used in Surat Minicipal Corporation areas. ...
J. of Communicable Diseases 54 (2): 33-38, 2022
A study conducted in an area encircled by rice paddies on a rodent abundance, population, and fle... more A study conducted in an area encircled by rice paddies on a rodent abundance, population, and flea vector index during normal and rodent outbreak periods revealed that the rodent populations of rice paddies were colonised in rice fields and are not migrated much to the residential areas even during the outbreak years. The predominance of Rattus rattus (94.2%) was recorded among the rodent species in residential premises, whereas in rice paddies, it was lesser bandicoot Bandicota bengalensis (98.9%). Among the structures in a residential area, bakeries were the most infested with pest rodents followed by grocery and vegetable stores. The recorded rat flea index of below 1 from the animals trapped in residential premises and no progression in fever and other ill health conditions among the residents even during field rodent outbreak years show no risk of zoonotic diseases like plague. Rodenticide poison offered through liquids has recorded high intake and control success over the market available ready-to-use bait cakes.
Journal of Communicable Diseasees, 2022
In the near future, the incidence of emerging infectious diseasesin humansislikely to rise signi... more In the near future, the incidence of emerging infectious diseasesin humansislikely to rise significantly due to the socio economic and demographic factors prevalent in the country. Over 30 new infectious diseases have been discovered since 1990; more than half of these originate
from zoonotic sources. There emerged eight pathogens of emerging and
re-emerging ailments in different areas of the country, 6 among which
were from zoonotic sources.1
Emerging infections will be more difficult to prevent and control without a combination of technologies, behavioural changes, national policies, and effective response methods to be better prepared. Various sustained efforts have been made by the Governments at both union and state levels to cover both emerging and re-emerging diseases. The grey areas identified include developing an emergency response plan for pandemics and epidemics; increasing public health response capability, establishing a functioning disease surveillance system; allocating required financial resources; enhancing community and civil society participation; increasing investment in research including engagement of academic institutions;
building international collaboration (both technical and financial) and greater national and global stewardship for public health. The paper attempts surveillance of rodent vectors and their management.
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Papers by MOHAN RAO Arasada
from zoonotic sources. There emerged eight pathogens of emerging and
re-emerging ailments in different areas of the country, 6 among which
were from zoonotic sources.1
Emerging infections will be more difficult to prevent and control without a combination of technologies, behavioural changes, national policies, and effective response methods to be better prepared. Various sustained efforts have been made by the Governments at both union and state levels to cover both emerging and re-emerging diseases. The grey areas identified include developing an emergency response plan for pandemics and epidemics; increasing public health response capability, establishing a functioning disease surveillance system; allocating required financial resources; enhancing community and civil society participation; increasing investment in research including engagement of academic institutions;
building international collaboration (both technical and financial) and greater national and global stewardship for public health. The paper attempts surveillance of rodent vectors and their management.