THE PRESENCE of plague in wild animal populations often is not discovered until a case occurs in man. Frequently, a diagnosis of human plague is not considered until after the patient recovers or dies. This is particularly true when cases of human plague occur in areas where zootic plague has not been previously noted (1). Knowledge of the proximity of wild rodent plague should contribute to earlier consideration of human plague as well as establishment of criteria necessary for control of the zootic source. Recent studies of rodents and carnivores have shown that serologic studies for plague antibodies in these populations may be used to locate infection in wild mammals (2). As early as 1722, it was known that dogs are occasionally infected fatally with Yersinia pestis (3-7). Only since serologic methods have been commonly used has there been evidence indicating that frequently dogs are nonfatally infected. In May 1966 the National Communicable Disease Center and the Division of Indian Health of the Public Health Service began a program of plague surveillance and control on the Navajo Indian Reservation. On this reservation, it was discovered that the domestic dog forages for food in much the same manner as a wild mammal, and a pilot project was initiated to evaluate the testing of dog Mr. Archibald is a public health biologist assigned to the Zoonoses Section, Ecological Investigations Program, Center for Disease Control. Dr. Kunitz is a graduate student at the department of sociology, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. During the time of the fieldwork for this study the authors were in Window Rock, Ariz. Mr. Archibald was with the Zoonoses Section and Dr. Kunitz was a field medical officer for
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