Belthoff James R, Bernhardt Scott A, Ball Christopher L, Gregg Michael, Johnson David H, Ketterling Rachel, Price Emily, Tinker Juliette K
1 Department of Biological Sciences and Raptor Research Center, Boise State University , Boise, Idaho.
2 Department of Biology, Utah State University , Logan, Utah.
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2015 Sep;15(9):556-64. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2015.1772. Epub 2015 Sep 14.
Western Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) are small, ground-dwelling owls of western North America that frequent prairie dog (Cynomys spp.) towns and other grasslands. Because they rely on rodent prey and occupy burrows once or concurrently inhabited by fossorial mammals, the owls often harbor fleas. We examined the potential role of fleas found on burrowing owls in plague dynamics by evaluating prevalence of Yersinia pestis in fleas collected from burrowing owls and in owl blood. During 2012-2013, fleas and blood were collected from burrowing owls in portions of five states with endemic plague-Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and South Dakota. Fleas were enumerated, taxonomically identified, pooled by nest, and assayed for Y. pestis using culturing and molecular (PCR) approaches. Owl blood underwent serological analysis for plague antibodies and nested PCR for detection of Y. pestis. Of more than 4750 fleas collected from owls, Pulex irritans, a known plague vector in portions of its range, comprised more than 99.4%. However, diagnostic tests for Y. pestis of flea pools (culturing and PCR) and owl blood (PCR and serology) were negative. Thus, even though fleas were prevalent on burrowing owls and the potential for a relationship with burrowing owls as a phoretic host of infected fleas exists, we found no evidence of Y. pestis in sampled fleas or in owls that harbored them. We suggest that studies similar to those reported here during plague epizootics will be especially useful for confirming these results.
西部穴小鸮（Athene cunicularia hypugaea）是北美洲西部小型的地栖鸮类，常出没于草原犬鼠（Cynomys spp.）群落和其他草原地区。由于它们以啮齿动物为食，且会占据曾被穴居哺乳动物居住过或同时被其占据的洞穴，这些鸮类身上常常带有跳蚤。我们通过评估从穴小鸮身上采集的跳蚤以及鸮类血液中鼠疫耶尔森菌的患病率，来研究穴小鸮身上的跳蚤在鼠疫动态中的潜在作用。在2012 - 2013年期间，从爱达荷州、俄勒冈州、华盛顿州、科罗拉多州和南达科他州这五个有鼠疫流行的州的部分地区的穴小鸮身上采集了跳蚤和血液。对跳蚤进行计数、分类鉴定，按巢穴进行汇集，并采用培养和分子（PCR）方法检测鼠疫耶尔森菌。对鸮类血液进行鼠疫抗体的血清学分析以及鼠疫耶尔森菌检测的巢式PCR。从鸮类身上采集的4750多只跳蚤中，人蚤（Pulex irritans）在其分布范围内的部分地区是已知的鼠疫传播媒介，占比超过99.4%。然而，对跳蚤样本（培养和PCR）以及鸮类血液（PCR和血清学）进行的鼠疫耶尔森菌诊断检测均为阴性。因此，尽管穴小鸮身上跳蚤很常见，而且存在穴小鸮作为感染跳蚤的携播宿主的潜在关系，但我们在采样的跳蚤或携带跳蚤的鸮类身上未发现鼠疫耶尔森菌的证据。我们建议，在鼠疫流行期间开展类似于本文所报道的研究，对于证实这些结果将特别有用。
