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Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 43(3), 2007, pp. 425-431
© Wildlife Disease Association  2007
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THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF SWIFT FOXES (VULPES VELOX) AND THEIR FLEAS IN PLAGUE OUTBREAKS IN PRAIRIE DOGS

 Daniel J. Salkeld1,2,6,7, Rebecca J. Eisen3, Paul Stapp1, Aryn P. Wilder4, Jennifer Lowell3,4, Daniel W. Tripp4, Doug Albertson5 and Michael F. Antolin4

1 Department of Biological Science, California State University, Fullerton, California 92834, USA
2 IUCN–The World Conservation Union, Washington, DC 20009, USA
3 Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado 80522, USA
4 Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA
5 Badlands National Park, Interior, South Dakota 57750, USA
7 Corresponding author (email: dsalkeld{at}nature.berkeley.edu)

ABSTRACT:   Swift foxes (Vulpes velox) have been proposed as potential carriers of fleas infected with the bacterium Yersinia pestis between areas of epizootics in black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus). We examined antibody prevalence rates of a population of swift foxes in Colorado, USA, and used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to examine their flea biota for evidence of Y. pestis. Fifteen of 61 (24%) captured foxes were seropositive, and antibody prevalence was spatially correlated with epizootic plague activity in prairie dog colonies in the year of, and previous to, the study. Foxes commonly harbored the flea Pulex simulans, though none of the fleas was positive for Y. pestis.
  Key words:  Carnivore disease, plague transmission, swift fox, Vulpes velox, Yersinia pestis.

6 Current address: Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA






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