JWD Your personal alerts
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 42(1), 2006, pp. 164-169
© Wildlife Disease Association  2006
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Holmes, B. E.
Right arrow Articles by Matchett, M. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Holmes, B. E.
Right arrow Articles by Matchett, M. R.

SHORT COMMUNICATION

No Evidence of Persistent Yersina pestis Infection at Prairie Dog Colonies in North-Central Montana

Brian E. Holmes1,3, Kerry R. Foresman1 and Marc R. Matchett2

1 Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812, USA;
2 Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, Lewistown, Montana 59457, USA
3 Corresponding author (email: Brian_E_Holmes{at}blm.gov)

ABSTRACT:   Sylvatic plague is a flea-borne zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which can cause extensive mortality among prairie dogs (Cynomys) in western North America. It is unclear whether the plague organism persists locally among resistant host species or elsewhere following epizootics. From June to August 2002 and 2003 we collected blood and flea samples from small mammals at prairie dog colonies with a history of plague, at prairie dog colonies with no history of plague, and from off-colony sites where plague history was unknown. Blood was screened for antibody to Y. pestis by means of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or passive hemagglutination assay and fleas were screened for Y. pestis DNA by polymerase chain reaction. All material was negative for Y. pestis including 156 blood samples and 553 fleas from colonies with a known history of plague. This and other studies provide evidence that Y. pestis may not persist at prairie dog colonies following an epizootic.
  Key words:  Cynomys, fleas, prairie dogs, sylvatic plague, Yersinia pestis.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J Wildl DisHome page
B. Thiagarajan, Y. Bai, K. L. Gage, and J. F. Cully Jr.
Prevalence of Yersinia pestis in Rodents and Fleas Associated with Black-tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) at Thunder Basin National Grassland, Wyoming
J. Wildl. Dis., July 1, 2008; 44(3): 731 - 736.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2006 by the Wildlife Disease Association.