Rodent Virus Diversity and Differentiation across Post-Katrina New Orleans

Concern about elevated disease risk following disasters has been growing with the progression of global trends in urbanization and climate, in part because shifts in socioecological conditions can promote greater human contact with pathogen reservoirs in cities. Remarkably little is known, however, about the diversity and distributions of pathogens carried by commensal reservoirs across disaster-affected urban landscapes. To address this deficit, we characterized the assemblage structure of viruses in the serum of three widespread commensal rodents (Rattus norvegicus, Rattus rattus, and Mus musculus) that were trapped in New Orleans (LA, USA) following Hurricane Katrina. We assessed virus diversity and differentiation according to host species identity, co-occurrence and abundance, as well as prevailing landscape features known to shape urban rodent assemblages. We detected ≥34 viruses in total, including several pathogens of concern, through metagenomic analysis of serum taken from ≥149 individuals of each host species. We found that virus richness as well as assemblage composition and spatial differentiation differed by host species. Notably, we detected associations with host species co-occurrence and abundance, and while we found that assemblage structure varied by study area, we did not detect strong associations with landscape features known to influence rodent hosts. Evidence that virus diversity and assemblage structure reflect host identity more so than other factors indicates that biotic benchmarks might serve as prognostic indicators of post-disaster pathogen exposure risk in cities worldwide.

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Residential Dynamics in the Wake of Katrina

Inventive Approaches for Technology Integration and Information Resources Management - Advances in Information Quality and Management ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-6256-8.ch013 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 294-316

Author(s):

John Byron Strait ◽

Gang Gong

Keyword(s):

Hurricane Katrina ◽

New Orleans ◽

Ethnic Diversity ◽

The United States ◽

Two Dimensions ◽

Tropical Storm ◽

Urban Landscapes ◽

Transformative Process ◽

Media Reports ◽

The One

The increased racial and ethnic diversity experienced by the United States in recent decades has vividly transformed this nation's urban landscapes. In New Orleans, Louisiana this transformative process was dramatically enhanced and accelerated by the disruptive impact of Hurricane Katrina, a tropical storm that devastated many of the area's residential neighborhoods. The displacement and turmoil brought on by this event, and the rebuilding efforts that followed, generated a residential geography that varied considerably from the one that existed prior to the storm. This chapter builds upon earlier work that investigates the impacts these processes had on the changing levels of residential segregation evident among racial and/or ethnic groups in New Orleans from 2000 to 2010. Empirical analysis entailed the measurement of two dimensions of segregation evident among Non-Hispanic whites, African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asians. Measures of residential exposure were decomposed in order to investigate the relative impacts of metropolitan-wide compositional change and intra-urban redistributive change on segregation among the four groups. Irrespective of media reports suggesting otherwise, New Orleans did exhibit very modest forms of residential integration during the decade. However, results also suggest that some groups within New Orleans continue to exhibit “ethnic (or racial) self-selectivity,” a form of residential behavior that concentrates these groups residentially. This chapter provides compelling evidence that residential landscapes across New Orleans continue to be impacted by complex forces operating at both the neighborhood and metropolitan scales.

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Rodent assemblage structure reflects socioecological mosaics of counter-urbanization across post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans

Landscape and Urban Planning ◽

10.1016/j.landurbplan.2019.103710 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 195 ◽

pp. 103710 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Anna C. Peterson ◽

Bruno M. Ghersi ◽

Richard Campanella ◽

Claudia Riegel ◽

Joshua A. Lewis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hurricane Katrina ◽

New Orleans ◽

Assemblage Structure

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In the heart of the city: Trypanosoma cruzi infection prevalence in rodents across New Orleans

Parasites & Vectors ◽

10.1186/s13071-020-04446-y ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Bruno M. Ghersi ◽

Anna C. Peterson ◽

Nathaniel L. Gibson ◽

Asha Dash ◽

Ardem Elmayan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Trypanosoma Cruzi ◽

New Orleans ◽

Host Species ◽

Baton Rouge ◽

Disease Risk ◽

Infection Prevalence ◽

French Quarter ◽

The City ◽

Norway Rats ◽

Trapping Sites

Abstract Background Trypanosoma cruzi - the causative agent of Chagas disease - is known to circulate in commensal pests, but its occurrence in urban environments is not well understood. We addressed this deficit by determining the distribution and prevalence of T. cruzi infection in urban populations of commensal and wild rodents across New Orleans (Louisiana, USA). We assessed whether T. cruzi prevalence varies according to host species identity and species co-occurrences, and whether T. cruzi prevalence varies across mosaics of abandonment that shape urban rodent demography and assemblage structure in the city. Methods Leveraging city-wide population and assemblage surveys, we tested 1428 rodents comprising 5 species (cotton rats, house mice, Norway rats, rice rats and roof rats) captured at 98 trapping sites in 11 study areas across New Orleans including nine residential neighborhoods and a natural area in Orleans Parish and a neighborhood in St. Bernard Parish. We also assayed Norway rats at one site in Baton Rouge (Louisiana, USA). We used chi-square tests to determine whether infection prevalence differed among host species, among study areas, and among trapping sites according to the number of host species present. We used generalized linear mixed models to identify predictors of T. cruzi infection for all rodents and each host species, respectively. Results We detected T. cruzi in all host species in all study areas in New Orleans, but not in Baton Rouge. Though overall infection prevalence was 11%, it varied by study area and trapping site. There was no difference in prevalence by species, but roof rats exhibited the broadest geographical distribution of infection across the city. Infected rodents were trapped in densely populated neighborhoods like the French Quarter. Infection prevalence seasonally varied with abandonment, increasing with greater abandonment during the summer and declining with greater abandonment during the winter. Conclusions Our findings illustrate that T. cruzi can be widespread in urban landscapes, suggesting that transmission and disease risk is greater than is currently recognized. Our findings also suggest that there is disproportionate risk of transmission in historically underserved communities, which could reinforce long-standing socioecological disparities in New Orleans and elsewhere.

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Tuberculosis Control Activities After Hurricane Katrina--New Orleans, Louisiana, 2005

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e503992006-002 ◽

2006 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Keyword(s):

Hurricane Katrina ◽

New Orleans ◽

Tuberculosis Control

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176. Responding to Mold Problems in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina

10.3320/1.2758887 ◽

2006 ◽

Author(s):

W. Sothern

Keyword(s):

Hurricane Katrina ◽

New Orleans

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Human-Environment Interactions: A Plea for the Humanities

Nature and Culture ◽

10.3167/nc.2007.020207 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 210-222 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nancy Tuana

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Hurricane Katrina ◽

New Orleans ◽

Global Community ◽

Human Environment

Research on human-environment interactions often neglects the resources of the humanities. Hurricane Katrina and the resulting levee breaches in New Orleans offer a case study on the need for inclusion of the humanities in the study of human-environment interactions, particularly the resources they provide in examining ethics and value concerns. Methods from the humanities, when developed in partnership with those from the sciences and social sciences, can provide a more accurate, effective, and just response to the scientific and technological challenges we face as a global community.

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Emotional Public: Treme as Post-Katrina Trauma Narrative

American Studies in Scandinavia ◽

10.22439/asca.v49i2.5674 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 49 (2) ◽

pp. 27-49

Author(s):

Outi J. Hakola

Keyword(s):

Public Sphere ◽

Hurricane Katrina ◽

New Orleans ◽

Traumatic Events ◽

Emotional Reactions ◽

Mediation Process ◽

Collective Memories ◽

Trauma Narrative

Cultural traumas are social, discursive and narrative processes where traumatic events, such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and their memories are described and interpreted. In fiction, in this case in HBO’s drama series Treme (2010-2013), trauma-related experiences are given meaning through narration, and in this mediation process collective memories are constructed. In this article, I analyze the ways in which the narration of Treme represents loss and remembering. I argue that by emphasizing sentimental nostalgia and the emotional reactions of the characters, the narration aims to create sympathy and empathy in the viewers, and in this way the drama series creates an emotional public sphere for the discussions over the rebuilding of post-Katrina New Orleans.

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Predicting the Presence of Leptospires in Rodents from Environmental Indicators Opens Up Opportunities for Environmental Monitoring of Human Leptospirosis

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13020325 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 325

Author(s):

Leon Biscornet ◽

Christophe Révillion ◽

Sylvaine Jégo ◽

Erwan Lagadec ◽

Yann Gomard ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Infectious Disease ◽

Environmental Factors ◽

Control Strategies ◽

Sampling Site ◽

Rattus Rattus ◽

Environmental Parameters ◽

Environmental Indicators ◽

Small Island ◽

Urban Landscapes ◽

Infection Prevalence

Leptospirosis, an environmental infectious disease of bacterial origin, is the infectious disease with the highest associated mortality in Seychelles. In small island territories, the occurrence of the disease is spatially heterogeneous and a better understanding of the environmental factors that contribute to the presence of the bacteria would help implement targeted control. The present study aimed at identifying the main environmental parameters correlated with animal reservoirs distribution and Leptospira infection in order to delineate habitats with highest prevalence. We used a previously published dataset produced from a large collection of rodents trapped during the dry and wet seasons in most habitats of Mahé, the main island of Seychelles. A land use/land cover analysis was realized in order to describe the various environments using SPOT-5 images by remote sensing (object-based image analysis). At each sampling site, landscape indices were calculated and combined with other geographical parameters together with rainfall records to be used in a multivariate statistical analysis. Several environmental factors were found to be associated with the carriage of leptospires in Rattus rattus and Rattus norvegicus, namely low elevations, fragmented landscapes, the proximity of urbanized areas, an increased distance from forests and, above all, increased precipitation in the three months preceding trapping. The analysis indicated that Leptospira renal carriage could be predicted using the species identification and a description of landscape fragmentation and rainfall, with infection prevalence being positively correlated with these two environmental variables. This model may help decision makers in implementing policies affecting urban landscapes and/or in balancing conservation efforts when designing pest control strategies that should also aim at reducing human contact with Leptospira-laden rats while limiting their impact on the autochthonous fauna.

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