Sylvatic Plague
Sylvatic plague is a flea-borne bacterial disease of wild rodents. Humans, pets, and wildlife can be afflicted with this disease. Prairie dogs are highly susceptible to plague and are the primary food source of the highly endangered black-footed ferret, which is also susceptible to the disease.
Why hasn't the US eradicated the plague?
Why hasn't the US eradicated the plague?
The Black Death caused about 50 million deaths across Africa, Asia and Europe in the 14th Century. It wiped out up to half of Europe's population. Its last terrifying outbreak in London was the Great Plague of 1665...
What is Plague? Is it only a wildlife disease?
What is Plague? Is it only a wildlife disease?
Learn more about plague from USGS Circular 1372. Written for both scholars and the general public, Plague presents information about the disease in a simple, straightforward manner.
Sylvatic plague can decimate prairie dog colonies (90% or greater mortality rates), resulting in local extinctions and population reductions. USGS scientists are working with partners to conduct field trials of an oral sylvatic plague vaccine for prairie dogs. This management tool could be used to reduce the occurrence of plague outbreaks in wildlife.
Related
Filter Total Items: 16
Impact of sylvatic plague vaccine on non-target small rodents in grassland ecosystems Impact of sylvatic plague vaccine on non-target small rodents in grassland ecosystems
Oral vaccination is an emerging management strategy to reduce the prevalence of high impact infectious diseases within wild animal populations. Plague is a flea-borne zoonosis of rodents that often decimates prairie dog (Cynomys spp.) colonies in the western USA. Recently, an oral sylvatic plague vaccine (SPV) was developed to protect prairie dogs from plague and aid recovery of the...
Authors
Gebbiena M. Bron, Katherine L. D. Richgels, Samuel. Michael D., Julia E. Poje, Faye Lorenzsonn, Jonathan P. Matteson, Jesse T. Boulerice, Jorge E. Osorio, Tonie E. Rocke
Local factors associated with on‐host flea distributions on prairie dog colonies Local factors associated with on‐host flea distributions on prairie dog colonies
Outbreaks of plague, a flea‐vectored bacterial disease, occur periodically in prairie dog populations in the western United States. In order to understand the conditions that are conducive to plague outbreaks and potentially predict spatial and temporal variations in risk, it is important to understand the factors associated with flea abundance and distribution that may lead to plague...
Authors
Robin E. Russell, Rachel C. Abbott, Daniel W. Tripp, Tonie E. Rocke
Factors influencing uptake of sylvatic plague vaccine baits by prairie dogs Factors influencing uptake of sylvatic plague vaccine baits by prairie dogs
Sylvatic plague vaccine (SPV) is a virally vectored bait-delivered vaccine expressing Yersinia pestis antigens that can protect prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) from plague and has potential utility as a management tool. In a large-scale 3-year field trial, SPV-laden baits containing the biomarker rhodamine B (used to determine bait consumption) were distributed annually at a rate of...
Authors
Rachel C. Abbott, Robin E. Russell, Katherine Richgels, Daniel W. Tripp, Marc R. Matchett, Dean E. Biggins, Tonie E. Rocke
Burrow dusting or oral vaccination prevents plague-associated prairie dog colony collapse Burrow dusting or oral vaccination prevents plague-associated prairie dog colony collapse
Plague impacts prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.), the endangered black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) and other sensitive wildlife species. We compared efficacy of prophylactic treatments (burrow dusting with deltamethrin or oral vaccination with recombinant “sylvatic plague vaccine” [RCN-F1/V307]) to placebo treatment in black-tailed prairie dog (C. ludovicianus) colonies. Between 2013 and...
Authors
Daniel W. Tripp, Tonie E. Rocke, Jonathan P. Runge, Rachel C. Abbott, Michael W. Miller
Paltry past-precipitation: Predisposing prairie dogs to plague? Paltry past-precipitation: Predisposing prairie dogs to plague?
The plague bacterium Yersinia pestis was introduced to California in 1900 and spread rapidly as a sylvatic disease of mammalian hosts and flea vectors, invading the Great Plains in the United States by the 1930s to 1940s. In grassland ecosystems, plague causes periodic, devastating epizootics in colonies of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus), sciurid rodents that create and...
Authors
David Eads, Dean E. Biggins
Sylvatic plague vaccine partially protects prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) in field trials Sylvatic plague vaccine partially protects prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) in field trials
Sylvatic plague, caused by Yersinia pestis, frequently afflicts prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.), causing population declines and local extirpations. We tested the effectiveness of bait-delivered sylvatic plague vaccine (SPV) in prairie dog colonies on 29 paired placebo and treatment plots (1–59 ha in size; average 16.9 ha) in 7 western states from 2013 to 2015. We compared relative abundance...
Authors
Tonie E. Rocke, Daniel W. Tripp, Robin E. Russell, Rachel C. Abbott, Katherine Richgels, Marc R. Matchett, Dean E. Biggins, Randall Griebel, Greg Schroeder, Shaun M. Grassel, David R. Pipkin, Jennifer Cordova, Adam Kavalunas, Brian Maxfield, Jesse T. Boulerice, Michael W. Miller
Related
Filter Total Items: 16
Impact of sylvatic plague vaccine on non-target small rodents in grassland ecosystems Impact of sylvatic plague vaccine on non-target small rodents in grassland ecosystems
Oral vaccination is an emerging management strategy to reduce the prevalence of high impact infectious diseases within wild animal populations. Plague is a flea-borne zoonosis of rodents that often decimates prairie dog (Cynomys spp.) colonies in the western USA. Recently, an oral sylvatic plague vaccine (SPV) was developed to protect prairie dogs from plague and aid recovery of the...
Authors
Gebbiena M. Bron, Katherine L. D. Richgels, Samuel. Michael D., Julia E. Poje, Faye Lorenzsonn, Jonathan P. Matteson, Jesse T. Boulerice, Jorge E. Osorio, Tonie E. Rocke
Local factors associated with on‐host flea distributions on prairie dog colonies Local factors associated with on‐host flea distributions on prairie dog colonies
Outbreaks of plague, a flea‐vectored bacterial disease, occur periodically in prairie dog populations in the western United States. In order to understand the conditions that are conducive to plague outbreaks and potentially predict spatial and temporal variations in risk, it is important to understand the factors associated with flea abundance and distribution that may lead to plague...
Authors
Robin E. Russell, Rachel C. Abbott, Daniel W. Tripp, Tonie E. Rocke
Factors influencing uptake of sylvatic plague vaccine baits by prairie dogs Factors influencing uptake of sylvatic plague vaccine baits by prairie dogs
Sylvatic plague vaccine (SPV) is a virally vectored bait-delivered vaccine expressing Yersinia pestis antigens that can protect prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) from plague and has potential utility as a management tool. In a large-scale 3-year field trial, SPV-laden baits containing the biomarker rhodamine B (used to determine bait consumption) were distributed annually at a rate of...
Authors
Rachel C. Abbott, Robin E. Russell, Katherine Richgels, Daniel W. Tripp, Marc R. Matchett, Dean E. Biggins, Tonie E. Rocke
Burrow dusting or oral vaccination prevents plague-associated prairie dog colony collapse Burrow dusting or oral vaccination prevents plague-associated prairie dog colony collapse
Plague impacts prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.), the endangered black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) and other sensitive wildlife species. We compared efficacy of prophylactic treatments (burrow dusting with deltamethrin or oral vaccination with recombinant “sylvatic plague vaccine” [RCN-F1/V307]) to placebo treatment in black-tailed prairie dog (C. ludovicianus) colonies. Between 2013 and...
Authors
Daniel W. Tripp, Tonie E. Rocke, Jonathan P. Runge, Rachel C. Abbott, Michael W. Miller
Paltry past-precipitation: Predisposing prairie dogs to plague? Paltry past-precipitation: Predisposing prairie dogs to plague?
The plague bacterium Yersinia pestis was introduced to California in 1900 and spread rapidly as a sylvatic disease of mammalian hosts and flea vectors, invading the Great Plains in the United States by the 1930s to 1940s. In grassland ecosystems, plague causes periodic, devastating epizootics in colonies of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus), sciurid rodents that create and...
Authors
David Eads, Dean E. Biggins
Sylvatic plague vaccine partially protects prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) in field trials Sylvatic plague vaccine partially protects prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) in field trials
Sylvatic plague, caused by Yersinia pestis, frequently afflicts prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.), causing population declines and local extirpations. We tested the effectiveness of bait-delivered sylvatic plague vaccine (SPV) in prairie dog colonies on 29 paired placebo and treatment plots (1–59 ha in size; average 16.9 ha) in 7 western states from 2013 to 2015. We compared relative abundance...
Authors
Tonie E. Rocke, Daniel W. Tripp, Robin E. Russell, Rachel C. Abbott, Katherine Richgels, Marc R. Matchett, Dean E. Biggins, Randall Griebel, Greg Schroeder, Shaun M. Grassel, David R. Pipkin, Jennifer Cordova, Adam Kavalunas, Brian Maxfield, Jesse T. Boulerice, Michael W. Miller