title: Risk of accidental invasion and expansion of allochthonous mice in Tokyo metropolitan coastal areas in Japan.
abstract: House mouse (Mus musculus) is one of the perilous animal vectors for imported zoonosis such as a lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCMV) infectious disease, and probably unknown emerging and/or re-emerging infectious diseases as well. It is necessary to prevent such diseases by regular surveys for behavioral trends of these allochthonous mice. However, such a trial has never been attempted in Japan. From 1998 to 2002, we analyzed partial sequences of the D-loop region in mtDNA, which provides powerful diagnostic SNPs for subspecies identification in the Mus musculus species, from 301 individuals of mice collected in 23 international bays or airports in Japan. We found that invasion of many allochthonous mice, which were identified as European subspecies, Mus musculus domesticus, occurred in Tokyo metropolitan coastal area. Based on the evidence, we warn that extensive invasion of allochthonous mice has occurred recently and, therefore, the risk of emerging and/or re-emerging infectious diseases invasion might be high in Tokyo metropolitan area.
authors.affiliation: RIKEN BioResource Center, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsuda
authors.forename: Kimiyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsuchiya
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.forename: Sinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iizuka
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shimamura
authors.forename: Sousuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Yukinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.forename: Hiromichi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yonekawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D001483:Base Sequence; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000378:metabolism; D003710:Demography; D007564:Japan; D008216:Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary; D051379:Mice / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial