Vector Control Improves Survival of Three Species of Prairie Dogs (Cynomys) in Areas Considered Enzootic for Plague
Vector Control Improves Survival of Three Species of Prairie Dogs (Cynomys) in Areas Considered Enzootic for Plague
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DOI：
10.1089/vbz.2009.0049
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发表时间：
2010-02-01
影响因子：
2.1
通讯作者：
Montenieri, John A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Biggins, Dean E.;Godbey, Jerry L.;Montenieri, John A.
鼠疫引起周期性的家禽流行性疾病，导致草原犬(PD)(Cynomys)种群大量死亡，但对致病细菌(鼠疫耶尔森氏菌)在家禽流行性疾病之间持续存在的方式知之甚少。PD的鼠疫流行可能是由于从PD菌落外的来源引入鼠疫菌所致。然而，鼠疫仍有可能在鼠疫间流行期间在PD中持续存在，并在其群体内和群体之间的高度易感个体中以低传播率传播。如果这是真的，应用媒介控制来减少蚤的数量可能会降低PD的死亡率。为了测试在没有明显的鼠疫疫情的情况下，媒介控制是否能提高帕金森病的存活率，我们在2000-2004年间使用投放到洞穴中的溴氰菊酯粉尘作为杀鼠剂，在涉及三种PD的15个地区(美国犹他州的Cynomys leucurus、犹他州的Cynomys parviden和蒙大拿州的Cynomys ludovicianus)的15个地区将鼠疫媒介(鼠疫媒介)的数量减少了96-98%(治疗后1个月)。即使在没有鼠疫流行的年份，与非粉尘场所相比，尘土场所的帕金森病成虫存活率高出31-45%，幼虫高出2-34%。在受检的851只跳蚤中，有49只(共6882只)培养出鼠疫耶尔森氏菌，在2631只蚤中，有40只的血清样本中检出鼠疫抗体。尽管有其他可能的解释，包括通过跳蚤、扁虱或其他体外寄生虫传播其他潜在的致命病原体，但我们的结果表明，在缺乏免费家畜和这些动物普遍死亡的情况下，鼠疫可能会在PD人群中无限期地保持下去。如果PD和它们的跳蚤支持鼠疫传播的地方性循环，将对这些动物和其他物种的保护产生重要影响。
Plague causes periodic epizootics that decimate populations of prairie dogs (PDs) (Cynomys), but the means by which the causative bacterium ( Yersinia pestis) persists between epizootics are poorly understood. Plague epizootics in PDs might arise as the result of introductions of Y. pestis from sources outside PD colonies. However, it remains possible that plague persists in PDs during interepizootic periods and is transmitted at low rates among highly susceptible individuals within and between their colonies. If this is true, application of vector control to reduce flea numbers might reduce mortality among PDs. To test whether vector control enhances PD survival in the absence of obvious plague epizootics, we reduced the numbers of fleas ( vectors for Y. pestis) 96-98% ( 1 month posttreatment) on 15 areas involving three species of PDs ( Cynomys leucurus, Cynomys parvidens in Utah, and Cynomys ludovicianus in Montana) during 2000-2004 using deltamethrin dust delivered into burrows as a pulicide. Even during years without epizootic plague, PD survival rates at dusted sites were 31-45% higher for adults and 2-34% higher for juveniles compared to survival rates at nondusted sites. Y. pestis was cultured from 49 of the 851 flea pools tested ( 6882 total fleas) and antibodies against Y. pestis were identified in serum samples from 40 of 2631 PDs. Although other explanations are possible, including transmission of other potentially fatal pathogens by fleas, ticks, or other ectoparasites, our results suggest that plague might be maintained indefinitely in PD populations in the absence of free epizootics and widespread mortality among these animals. If PDs and their fleas support enzootic cycles of plague transmission, there would be important implications for the conservation of these animals and other species.