The combined effect of bromadiolone and ivermectin (iBr) in controlling both rodents and their fleas

Rodent pests not only cause severe agricultural loss but also spread zoonotic pathogens to human beings.Antico-agulant rodenticides are widely used to decrease the population densities of rodents but often lead to the spillover of ectoparasites becausefleas and ticks may gather on surviving rodents.Therefore,it is necessary to killfleas and ticks before culling rodents to minimize the risk of pathogen transmission.In this study,we used a mixture of ivermectin(an antiparasitic drug)and bromadiolone(an anticoagulant rodenticide)to control both rodent andflea/tick abundances.We found that in a laboratory test,0.01%ivermectin bait was not lethal for greater long-tailed hamsters after 7 days of treatment,while 0.1%ivermectin bait was lethal for approximately 33%of treated rodents.In afield test,bait containing 0.001%,0.005%,0.01%,and 0.05%ivermectin decreased the number offleas per vole of Brandt’s voles to 0.42,0.22,0.12,and 0.2,respectively,compared with 0.77 in the control group,indicating that 0.01%ivermectin bait performed best in removingfleas.In another laboratory test,bait containing a 0.01%ivermectin and 0.005%bromadiolone mixture caused the death of all voles within 6–14 days after the intake of the bait.In thefield test,the bait containing 0.01%ivermectin and 0.005%bromadiolone reduced the average number offleas per vole to 0.35,which was significantly lower than the 0.77 of the control group.Our results indicate that a 0.01%ivermectin and 0.005%bromadiolone mixture could be used to control both rodents andfleas to minimize the spillover risk of disease transmission when using traditional rodenticides.

Anticoagulant rodenticide intoxication in east China:a three-year analysis

The study was designed to analyze the incidence and pattern of anticoagulant rodenticide intoxication in east China and to discuss strategies of diagnosis based on laboratory analysis experience.A total of 117 patients with anticoagulant rodenticide poisoning confirmed by toxicological analysis in east China were included in this study from 2011 to 2013.The mean concentration of anticoagulant rodenticide,age,and gender of these patients,as well as the mode and type of poisoning,were discussed.The age ranged from less than 1 to 80 years with the feeble preponderance of males(M D 53.0%,F D 47.0%).The 0–9 age group covered the largest ratio of these anticoagulant rodenticide poisoning patients.Accidental or voluntary ingestion seems to be the most common cause of intoxication,with still the poisoning cause being unknown for a large number of positive analyses.Bromadiolone was the most commonly observed anticoagulant rodenticide found in the biological samples,followed by brodifacoum.The concentrations of bromadiolone and brodifacoum that were detected in the first collected whole blood from each patient ranged from 1 to 878 ng/mL(mean 97.9 ng/mL)and from 0.5 to 1566 ng/mL(mean 225.1 ng/mL),respectively.The data analysis shows a high incidence of anticoagulant rodenticide poisoning without awareness of the poisoned subjects,clearly emphasizing the need for toxicological analysis in patients with vitamin K-dependent coagulation disorder and restriction on availability of anticoagulant rodenticide.