Rodents in relation to problems of arthropod-borne diseases.

Because rodents are numerically predominant in most terrestrial biotopes, exhibit a high degree of ecological plasticity and live in close contact with both man and a number of blood-sucking arthropods, they have become the main reservoirs of many human diseases occurring in natural foci, including some that spread without the intervention of a vector. The author describes the unique ecological characteristics of rodents, analyses their role in the maintenance of infection in natural foci, and examines the conditions under which epizootics among rodents may give rise to epidemics in man. In the light of such knowledge, it is possible to forecast the epizootic and epidemiological situation several months in advance and to improve the efficacy of control measures based on rodent eradication.