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The house mouse (Mus musculus) in small farmstead buildings in Slovakia

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Abstract

A total of 297 individuals of indoor Mus musculus Linnaeus, 1758 were trapped in two villages (Duplín and Potoky) in north-eastern Slovakia during 2015–2017 from small private farmstead buildings, i.e. in breeding yards with poultry, pigs and pigeons. Analysis of the demographic structure of the mouse populations showed that the sex ratio did not deviate from a 1:1 ratio. The prevalence of adult mice was significantly higher than of subadults, and this was particularly noticeable in females. The season did not affect the litter size (mean ± SD = 4.9 ± 1.5, with 2–8 embryos) in mice, and winter breeding was confirmed. Results from our microbiological analysis showed that the house mouse populations inhabiting small farmstead buildings could be important reservoirs of potentially pathogenic and multidrug-resistant bacteria.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our sincere thanks to Milan Malenky, Ján Maťaš and Miroslav Vavrek for their help with trapping the mice and for general assistance provided. Our thanks also go to anonymous referees for their valuable comments on the manuscript. Finally, we would like to thank Júlia Pekarčíková for proofreading the manuscript and to David McLean for revising the English language.

Funding

This work was prepared with the financial help of grants APVV-16-0171 and VEGA1/0277/19.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences, Department of Biology, University of Prešov, 17. novembra 1, SK-080 01, Prešov, Slovakia

    Alexander Csanády & Silvia Duranková

  2. Department of microbiology, Institute of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, P.J. Šafárik University, SK-041 54, Košice, Slovakia

    Jana Kisková, Soňa Galušková, Peter Pristaš & Jana Sedláková-Kaduková

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  1. Alexander Csanády
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Correspondence to Alexander Csanády.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. The handling of small mammals complies with the laws of the Slovak Republic (No. 2971108/06).

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Csanády, A., Kisková, J., Galušková, S. et al. The house mouse (Mus musculus) in small farmstead buildings in Slovakia. Biologia 76, 1205–1213 (2021). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-020-00633-5

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