Details:

Alternative Title:
PLoS One
Personal Author:
Eisen, Rebecca J.; Borchert, Jeff N.; Mpanga, Joseph T.; Atiku, Linda A.; MacMillan, Katherine; ... More +
Eisen, Rebecca J.; Borchert, Jeff N.; Mpanga, Joseph T.; Atiku, Linda A.; MacMillan, Katherine; Boegler, Karen A.; Montenieri, John A.; Monaghan, Andrew; Gage, Kenneth L.; Less -
Description:
Plague is a flea-borne rodent-associated zoonotic disease that is caused by Yersinia pestis and characterized by long quiescent periods punctuated by rapidly spreading epidemics and epizootics. How plague bacteria persist during inter-epizootic periods is poorly understood, yet is important for predicting when and where epizootics are likely to occur and for designing interventions aimed at local elimination of the pathogen. Existing hypotheses of how Y. pestis is maintained within plague foci typically center on host abundance or diversity, but little attention has been paid to the importance of flea diversity in enzootic maintenance. Our study compares host and flea abundance and diversity along an elevation gradient that spans from low elevation sites outside of a plague focus in the West Nile region of Uganda (~725-1160 m) to higher elevation sites within the focus (~1380-1630 m). Based on a year of sampling, we showed that host abundance and diversity, as well as total flea abundance on hosts was similar between sites inside compared with outside the plague focus. By contrast, flea diversity was significantly higher inside the focus than outside. Our study highlights the importance of considering flea diversity in models of Y. pestis persistence.
Subject:
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Animals
Biodiversity
Climate
Insect Vectors
Plague
Population Density
Rodentia
Siphonaptera
Zoonoses

Source:
PLoS One. 2012; 7(4).;
Document Type:
Journal Article;
Place as Subject:
Uganda;
Collection(s):
CDC Public Access
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:bcb4865b4672d7ad4bba8b2d723ae6f4d102402ecb54d1661c8f004d1d1d1b92
File Type:

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