Putting Rodents at the Center of One Health Programs: A Narrative Synthesis

Rodents occupy a pivotal position at the interface of humans, animals, and the environment, making them a fundamental component of One Health frameworks. Both commensal and sylvatic rodent species act as reservoirs, amplifiers, and sentinels for a wide diversity of zoonotic pathogens, while simultaneously delivering key ecosystem services that influence biodiversity, nutrient cycling, and landscape structure. Spillover of pathogens between rodents, humans, livestock, and other wildlife occurs bidirectionally, enabling pathogen persistence, evolution, and emergence, particularly in rapidly changing socio-ecological systems. Invasive and synanthropic rodent species can profoundly disrupt ecosystems, contribute to biodiversity loss, and erode dilution effects that otherwise reduce disease transmission. At the same time, rodents serve as sensitive bioindicators of environmental contamination, antimicrobial resistance, and ecosystem degradation due to their close association with agriculture, waste streams, and human settlement. This narrative synthesis argues that rodents should be explicitly placed at the center of One Health programs, particularly within the scope of integrative zoology, which seeks to unify ecological, evolutionary, and health-related perspectives. Drawing on more than two decades of multidisciplinary research, largely from sub-Saharan Africa, this paper synthesizes current understanding of rodent ecology, pathogen diversity, and environmental change, while highlighting the RatZooMan project as an early exemplar of a rodent-focused One Health approach. We expand existing concepts, remove disciplinary silos, and identify future research directions that reconcile zoonotic disease prevention with ecosystem integrity and sustainable development.