Data from: Using genetic relatedness to understand heterogeneous distributions of urban rat-associated pathogens

Urban Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) carry several pathogens
transmissible to people. However, pathogen prevalence can vary across fine
spatial scales (i.e., by city block). Using a population genomics
approach, we sought to describe rat movement patterns across an urban
landscape, and to evaluate whether these patterns align with pathogen
distributions. We genotyped 605 rats from a single neighborhood in
Vancouver, Canada and used 1,495 genome-wide single nucleotide
polymorphisms to identify parent-offspring and sibling relationships using
pedigree analysis. We resolved 1,246 pairs of relatives, of which only 1%
of pairs were captured in different city blocks. Relatives were primarily
caught within 33 meters of each other leading to a highly leptokurtic
distribution of dispersal distances. Using binomial generalized linear
mixed models we evaluated whether family relationships influenced rat
pathogen status with the bacterial pathogens Leptospira interrogans,
Bartonella tribocorum, and Clostridium difficile, and found that an
individual’s pathogen status was not predicted any better by including
disease status of related rats. The spatial clustering of related rats and
their pathogens lends support to the hypothesis that spatially restricted
movement promotes the heterogeneous patterns of pathogen prevalence
evidenced in this population. Our findings also highlight the utility of
evolutionary tools to understand movement and rat-associated health risks
in urban landscapes.