Epidemiology of Rodent Bites and Prediction of Rat Infestation in New York City

Epidemiology of Rodent Bites and Prediction of Rat Infestation in New York City

The authors examined the epidemiology of rodent bites occurring in New York City from 1986 through 1994 to identify factors contributing to increased probability of rodent bite and rat infestation. City blocks on which a rodent bite case had been reported (n=415) and three control blocks per bite bl...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of epidemiology Vol. 148; no. 1; pp. 78 - 87
Main Authors: Childs, James E., McLafferty, Sara L., Sadek, Ramses, Miller, Gayle L., Khan, Ali S., DuPree, E. Randy, Advani, Ranjan, Glass, Gregory E.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Cary, NC Oxford University Press 01-07-1998
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
bites and stings
Bites and Stings - epidemiology
Child
Child, Preschool
Cluster Analysis
Environment. Living conditions
Female
geography
Housing. Living conditions
Humans
Infant
information systems
Logistic Models
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
New York City - epidemiology
Odds Ratio
Population Surveillance
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Rats
Risk
risk assessment
Rodent Control
Rodentia
urban health
New York
United States
North America
America
New York City
Human
Vertebrata
Mammalia
Rat
Rodentia
Bite
Environment
Epidemiology
Public health
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The authors examined the epidemiology of rodent bites occurring in New York City from 1986 through 1994 to identify factors contributing to increased probability of rodent bite and rat infestation. City blocks on which a rodent bite case had been reported (n=415) and three control blocks per bite block, matched by borough and randomly selected, were compared according to demographic characteristics obtained from US Census data. Environmental variable were defined using a geographic information system to extract distances to areas potentially providing food or refuge for rats, such as parks. Borough-specific models of bite risk were generated by logistic regression using data collected from 1991 to 1994; risk values were then generated for all city blocks. Field surveys for signs of rat infestation conducted on 31 randomly selected blocks indicated a significant association betwen degree of infestation and predicted risk. Spatial analyses comparing neighboring blocks showed that bolcks with bite ccases were significantly clustered. The models based on data from previous years correctly predicted 72 percent of 53 block addresses of rodent bite cases from 1995 as being location of high or intermediate risk. A combination of geographic and edidemiologic analyses could help investigators identify the spatial occurrence of rat infestation over a large area and might help to focus control activities. Am J Epifrmiol 198;148:78–87.
Bibliography:Reprint requests to Dr. James E. Childs, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G13, Atlanta, GA 30333.
This paper was prepared under the auspices of the US Government and is therefore not subject to copyright.
istex:89F181FEC6F27EDFF8FC81D376194926FF21CAC8
ArticleID:148.1.78
ark:/67375/HXZ-1TKJNBDW-0
ISSN:0002-9262
1476-6256
DOI:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009563