Status
Completed
Fieldwork complete, Analysis complete,
Manuscripts under revision.
Progress and
Results
Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys
ludovicianus) are epizootic hosts for plague (Yersinia pestis);
however, alternate enzootic hosts are important for the maintenance of
the pathogen. We determined small rodents and prairie dog associations
and quantified rodent and flea relationships in the presence and absence
of prairie dog colonies and plague. We identified potential alternate hosts
and flea vectors for the maintenance and transmission of plague in the
prairie ecosystem. This is the first multi-year study to investigate associations
between prairie dogs, rodents and fleas across the range of the black-tailed
prairie dog. Two rodent species associated with black-tailed prairie dogs
and were found to be highly abundant on colonies. Rodent species implicated
in plague were present at study areas with and without plague. Peromyscus
maniculatus and Onychomus leucogaster, two widely occurring
species, were more abundant on colonies and in areas with a recent history
of plague. Flea community characteristics varied within each study area
in the presence and absence of prairie dogs. Based on flea diversity on
rodents, and the role of rodents and fleas in plague, we identified P.
maniculatus and O. leucogaster and their associated fleas, Aetheca
wagneri, Malareus telchinus, Orchopeas leucopus, Peromyscopsylla hesperomys,
and Pleochaetis exilis to be important for the dynamics of sylvatic
plague in our study areas. Peromyscus maniculatus and O. leucogaster
were consistently infected with Bartonella spp., another blood parasite.
Presence of prairie dog fleas on other rodents at both off and on prairie
dog colonies suggests the potential for intra and interspecific transmission
of fleas between rodent hosts, and between other small rodents and prairie
dogs.
Products:
Bala, T. 2006. Community dynamics
of rodents, fleas and plague associated With black-tailed prairie dogs.
Ph. D. Dissertation. Division of Biology, KSU.
Bai, Y., M. J. Kosoy, J. F. Cully,
Jr., T. Bala, C. Ray, S. K. Collinge. 2007. Acquisition of nonspecific
Bartonella
strains by the northern grasshopper mouse (Onychomys leucogaster).
FEMS Microbiol Ecol 61:438-448.
T. Bala, Y. Bai, K. L. Gage, and
J. F. Cully, Jr. In press. Prevalence of Yersinia pestis in rodents
and fleas associated with black-tailed prairie dogs at Thunder Basin National
Grassland, Wyoming. Journal of Wildlife Diseases.
Brinkerhoff, R. J., C. Ray, B. Thiagarajan,
S. K. Collinge, J. F. Cully, Jr., B. Holmes and K. L. Gage. In press. Keystone
hosts: prairie dogs affect occurrence patterns of disease vectors on small
mammals. Ecography.
Bala, T., Ying Bai, Michael Kosoy,
Ken Gage, Tom Loughin and J. F. Cully, Jr. Prevalence of Bartonella
in rodents and fleas associated with the black-tailed prairie dogs. 55th
Annual Conference of the Wildlife Disease Association, University of Connecticut,
Storrs, CT.
Bala, T., J. Cully, T. M. Loughin,
Y. Bai, M. Kosoy, and K. L. Gage. Prevalence of Bartonella species in
rodents and fleas associated with black-tailed prairie dogs. 62nd Annual
Meeting, International Conference on Diseases in Nature Communicable to
Man, Madison, WI, August 12-14, 2007.
