Insights into the spatial distribution of house mouse, Mus musculus domesticus, infestations in low-income multi-family dwellings

The house mouse, Mus musculus domesticus, a common pest in low-income multifamily dwellings (MFD), creates public health risk. This study was designed to evaluate the spatial distribution of house mice in MFD’s.  Four low-income high-rise apartment buildings in three cities in New Jersey were selected for this study.  Building-wide house mouse monitoring was conducted in each building two times, approximately one year apart.  Presence of house mouse infestation was determined by placing mouse bait stations with three different non-toxic baits for a one week period.  Permutation test was conducted to evaluate house mouse infestation spatial patterns.   Three of the four buildings analyzed showed a significant correlation between apartments with house mouse infestations and whether they share a common wall or ceiling/floor at both sampling periods.  The one building that did not show a significant relationship in infestation of neighboring units had a high proportion of isolated apartments.  Therefore, house mouse infestations tend to occur among apartments that share common walls or ceilings/floors.  While relative foraging ranges, speed of locomotion, and dispersal behavior of house mice are larger, faster and more common, relatively, to common urban arthropod pests, house mice infestations in apartments create a high risk for infestations in neighboring units in multi-unit dwellings similarly to what has been documented with other urban pests.  This spatial distribution patterns can be utilized in rodent management plans to improve the efficiency of house mouse management programs in multi-unit dwellings.