Mize Erica L, Grassel Shaun M, Britten Hugh B
1 Department of Biology, University of South Dakota, 414 E Clark St., Vermillion, South Dakota 57069, USA.
2 Midwest Fisheries Center, US Fish and Wildlife Service, 555 Lester Ave., Onalaska, Wisconsin 54650, USA.
J Wildl Dis. 2017 Jul;53(3):521-531. doi: 10.7589/2016-09-202. Epub 2017 Apr 6.
Sylvatic plague is one of the major impediments to the recovery of the black-footed ferret ( Mustela nigripes ) because it decimates their primary prey species, prairie dogs ( Cynomys spp.), and directly causes mortality in ferrets. Fleas are the primary vector of Yersinia pestis , the causative agent of sylvatic plague. The goal of this research was to better understand the flea fauna of ferrets and the factors that might influence flea abundance on ferrets. Fleas from ferrets were tested for Y. pestis in a post hoc assessment to investigate the plausibility that some ferrets could act as incidental transporter hosts of fleas infected with Y. pestis . Fleas were collected from ferrets captured on the Lower Brule Indian Reservation in central South Dakota, US from 2009 to 2012. A total of 528 fleas collected from 67 individual ferrets were identified and tested for the presence of Y. pestis with a nested PCR assay. The predominant flea recovered from ferrets was Oropsylla hirsuta , a species that comprises 70-100% of the fleas recovered from prairie dogs and their burrows in the study area. Yersinia pestis was detected at low levels in fleas collected from ferrets with prevalence ranging from 0% to 2.9%; male ferrets harbored significantly more fleas than female ferrets. Six of 67 ferrets vaccinated against plague carried fleas that tested positive for Y. pestis , which suggests ferrets vaccinated against plague could inadvertently act as incidental transporter hosts of Y. pestis -positive fleas.
野生鼠疫是黑足雪貂（Mustela nigripes）种群恢复的主要障碍之一，因为它会大量减少黑足雪貂的主要猎物——草原犬鼠（Cynomys spp.）的数量，并直接导致雪貂死亡。跳蚤是野生鼠疫病原体鼠疫耶尔森菌（Yersinia pestis）的主要传播媒介。本研究的目的是更好地了解雪貂身上的跳蚤群落，以及可能影响雪貂身上跳蚤数量的因素。在一项事后评估中，对雪貂身上的跳蚤进行了鼠疫耶尔森菌检测，以调查某些雪貂是否可能无意间成为感染鼠疫耶尔森菌的跳蚤的转运宿主。2009年至2012年期间，在美国南达科他州中部下布鲁尔印第安保留地捕获的雪貂身上收集跳蚤。从67只雪貂身上共收集到528只跳蚤，进行了鉴定，并采用巢式聚合酶链反应检测鼠疫耶尔森菌的存在。从雪貂身上回收的主要跳蚤是多毛山蚤（Oropsylla hirsuta），在研究区域内，从草原犬鼠及其洞穴中回收的跳蚤中，该物种占70%-100%。在从雪貂身上收集的跳蚤中检测到低水平的鼠疫耶尔森菌，阳性率为0%至2.9%；雄性雪貂身上的跳蚤明显多于雌性雪貂。67只接种过鼠疫疫苗的雪貂中有6只身上携带的跳蚤鼠疫耶尔森菌检测呈阳性，这表明接种过鼠疫疫苗的雪貂可能无意间成为鼠疫耶尔森菌阳性跳蚤的转运宿主。
