| Abstract: | Resistance to the first successful anticoagulant rodenticide, warfarin, was detected in the Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus Berk.) in 1958, and it has since expanded to cover other commensal rodent species (R. rattus L., Mus musculus L.) and the majority of later-developed anticoagulant compounds. The purpose of this paper is to give an up-to-date picture of the current distribution of anticoagulant resistance in Europe, as revealed by the questionnaire dispatched by EPPO (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization) to its member countries in 1992. Replies were received from 13 countries (43% of EPPO members), and it was found that broad-spectrum resistance occurred in practically all those countries that reported testing activity. A likely conclusion based on this finding is that true distribution of resistance is certainly more extensive than documented by the questionnaire replies. Another conclusion drawn by the EPPO Rodent Control Panel was that the existing resistance detection protocols were no longer adequate to cover the whole array of existing anticoagulant rodenticides. Consequently, a new guideline including novel methods particularly for detecting resistance to single-dose anticoagulant compounds was urgently needed. This guideline is currently under review. |
