Transmission Efficiency of Two Flea Species (Oropsylla tuberculata cynomuris and Oropsylla hirsuta) Involved in Plague Epizootics among Prairie Dogs

Wilder, Aryn P.; Eisen, Rebecca J.; Bearden, Scott W.; Montenieri, John A.; Tripp, Daniel W.; Brinkerhoff, R. Jory; Gage, Kenneth L.; Antolin, Michael F.

doi:10.1007/s10393-008-0165-1

Cited by 78 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…(Figure 2). These two flea species differ widely in their ability to transmit Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague: O. t. cynomuris has more than three times greater transmission efficiency of bubonic plague than O. hirsuta (Wilder et al, 2008b). Perhaps the presence or absence of a specific lineage, such as the Rickettsial lineage studied here, or the difference in community composition variability across flea species accounts for the difference in vector competency.…”

Section: Bacterial Diversity Within Individual Fleasmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…In many cases, the spread of disease is mediated through arthropod vectors, and vector competency is a key parameter in epidemiological models. However, there is wide variation in vector competency between species (Eisen et al, 2006(Eisen et al, , 2007aWilder et al, 2008b) and even between individuals of the same species (Wilder et al, 2008a). The underlying causes of these differences are clearly important, and a more thorough understanding of the ecological factors associated with the prevalence and persistence of pathogenic lineages associated with vectors will ultimately help predict and prevent the spread of disease.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bacterial communities of disease vectors sampled across time, space, and species

2009

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A common strategy of pathogenic bacteria is to form close associations with parasitic insects that feed on animals and to use these insects as vectors for their own transmission. Pathogens interact closely with other coexisting bacteria within the insect, and interactions between co-occurring bacteria may influence the vector competency of the parasite. Interactions between particular lineages can be explored through measures of a-diversity. Furthermore, general patterns of bacterial community assembly can be explored through measures of b-diversity. Here, we use pyrosequencing (n ¼ 115 924 16S rRNA gene sequences) to describe the bacterial communities of 230 prairie dog fleas sampled across space and time. We use these communinty characterizations to assess interactions between dominant community members and to explore general patterns of bacterial community assembly in fleas. An analysis of co-occurrence patterns suggests non-neutral negative interactions between dominant community members (Po0.001). Furthermore, bacterial communities of fleas shift dramatically across years (phylotype-based: R ¼ 0.829, Po0.001; phylogeneticbased: R ¼ 0.612-0.753, Po0.001), but they also significantly differ across space (phylotype-based: R ¼ 0.418, Po0.001; phylogenetic-based: R ¼ 0.290-0.328, Po0.001) and between flea species (phylotype-based: R ¼ 0.160, P ¼ 0.011; phylogenetic-based: not significant). Collectively, our results show that flea-associated bacterial communities are not random assemblages; rather, an individual flea's bacterial community is governed by interactions between bacterial lineages and by the flea's place in space and time.

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Section: Bacterial Diversity Within Individual Fleasmentioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial communities of disease vectors sampled across time, space, and species

2009

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“…For example, the Rocky Mountain spotted fever can be transmitted by several different tick species, including Dermacentor variabilis and Dermacentor andersoni [20]. The sylvatic plague in prairie dogs can be transmitted by multiple flea species (Oropsylla hirsuta and Oropsylla tuberculata cynomuris) and through multiple manners (by blocked fleas and also through transition immediately following an infected blood meal) [28,77,78]. Let N N), where θ is called the Allee threshold (see [29]).…”

Section: Time T: N I (T) = S I (T) + I I (T) + R I (T)mentioning

confidence: 99%

A seasonal SIR metapopulation model with an Allee effect with application to controlling plague in prairie dog colonies

Ekanayake¹,

Ekanayake²

2014

Journal of Biological Dynamics

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For wildlife species living among patchy habitats, disease and the Allee effect (reduced per capita birth rates at low population densities) may together drive a patch's population to extinction, particularly if births are seasonal. Yet local extinction may not be indicative of global extinction, and a patch may become recolonized by migrating individuals. We introduce deterministic and stochastic susceptible, infectious, and immune epidemic models with vector species to study disease in a metapopulation with an Allee effect and seasonal birth and dispersal. We obtain conditions for the existence of a strong Allee effect and existence and stability of a disease-free positive periodic solution. These general models have application to many wildlife diseases. As a case study, we apply them to evaluate dynamics of the sylvatic plague in prairie dog colonies interconnected through dispersal. We further evaluate the effects of control of the vector population and control by immunization on plague eradication.

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“…Numerous other studies have also found that flea bacterial load does not correlate with transmission. [13][14][15][16][17][18] Given the small infectious does of Y. pestis ( 100 cells), 10,[19][20][21][22] the overall number of Y. pestis bacteria is less important than the ability of a small number of these organisms to invade the mouse. It has been suggested that very small numbers of Y. pestis residing in a flea's proventriculus could cause infection through regurgitation during feeding.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposing Laboratory-Reared Fleas to Soil and Wild Flea Feces Increases Transmission of Yersinia pestis

Jones

Vetter

Gage

2013

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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Abstract. Laboratory-reared Oropsylla montana were exposed to soil and wild-caught Oropsylla montana feces for 1 week. Fleas from these two treatments and a control group of laboratory-reared fleas were infected with Yersinia pestis, the etiological agent of plague. Fleas exposed to soil transmitted Y. pestis to mice at a significantly greater rate (50.0% of mice were infected) than control fleas (23.3% of mice were infected). Although the concentration of Y. pestis in fleas did not differ among treatments, the minimum transmission efficiency of fleas from the soil and wild flea feces treatments (6.9% and 7.6%, respectively) were more than three times higher than in control fleas (2.2%). Our results suggest that exposing laboratory-reared fleas to diverse microbes alters transmission of Y. pestis.The majority of vector-borne pathogen transmission studies rely on laboratory-reared insects and other arthropod vectors. In addition to providing the large number of these organisms necessary for research, rearing vectors in the laboratory is the only way to ensure that individuals are pathogen free at the start of the study. However, laboratory conditions cannot mimic conditions in nature and the applicability of transmission studies to transmission under natural conditions is somewhat compromised. One consequence of rearing insects in the laboratory is the substantial loss of microbial diversity harbored by their wild counterparts. [1][2][3][4][5] Given that the ability of pathogens to successfully invade and persist within insects is likely influenced by the native insect microbiota, 6,7 lower microbial diversity in laboratory-reared vectors may affect transmission competency and efficiency.In Oropsylla montana, a common squirrel flea, the abundances of lineages within the Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes are significantly reduced within 96 hours of being kept under laboratory conditions. 2 Oropsylla montana is the vector responsible for the majority of flea-borne plague cases in humans in North America. 8 The estimated vector competency and transmission efficiency of fleas for Yersinia pestis varies widely among flea species but also among studies of the same flea species, including O. montana.9 It has been suggested that variance among studies may be the result of differences in Y. pestis concentration in blood fed to fleas, the type of animal blood used in experiments, temperature differences, and the time point fleas are tested post-infection. 9 An often overlooked factor that may help explain the fate of pathogens after ingestion by insects is the insect gut microbiota, 6 and interactions between Y. pestis and other bacteria within fleas may affect transmission efficiency of plague.Oropsylla montana have been reared at the Division of Vector-Borne Disease since 1993 under the following conditions: incubation at 85% relative humidity and 23 C, in autoclaved media (sand, ground rat chow, and powdered dried blood have been used for more than 10 years), which provides a site for egg-laying by fleas, nu...

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Transmission Efficiency of Two Flea Species (Oropsylla tuberculata cynomuris and Oropsylla hirsuta) Involved in Plague Epizootics among Prairie Dogs

Cited by 78 publications

References 23 publications

Bacterial communities of disease vectors sampled across time, space, and species

Bacterial communities of disease vectors sampled across time, space, and species

A seasonal SIR metapopulation model with an Allee effect with application to controlling plague in prairie dog colonies

Exposing Laboratory-Reared Fleas to Soil and Wild Flea Feces Increases Transmission of Yersinia pestis

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