THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF SWIFT FOXES (VULPES VELOX) AND THEIR FLEAS IN PLAGUE OUTBREAKS IN PRAIRIE DOGS

Daniel J. Salkeld; Rebecca J. Eisen; Paul Stapp; Aryn P. Wilder; Jennifer Lowell; Daniel W. Tripp; Doug Albertson; Michael F. Antolin

doi:10.7589/0090-3558-43.3.425

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1 July 2007 THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF SWIFT FOXES (VULPES VELOX) AND THEIR FLEAS IN PLAGUE OUTBREAKS IN PRAIRIE DOGS

Daniel J. Salkeld, Rebecca J. Eisen, Paul Stapp, Aryn P. Wilder, Jennifer Lowell, Daniel W. Tripp, Doug Albertson, Michael F. Antolin

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J. of Wildlife Diseases, 43(3):425-431 (2007). https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-43.3.425

Abstract

Swift foxes (Vulpes velox) have been proposed as potential carriers of fleas infected with the bacterium Yersinia pestis between areas of epizootics in black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus). We examined antibody prevalence rates of a population of swift foxes in Colorado, USA, and used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to examine their flea biota for evidence of Y. pestis. Fifteen of 61 (24%) captured foxes were seropositive, and antibody prevalence was spatially correlated with epizootic plague activity in prairie dog colonies in the year of, and previous to, the study. Foxes commonly harbored the flea Pulex simulans, though none of the fleas was positive for Y. pestis.

Salkeld, Eisen, Stapp, Wilder, Lowell, Tripp, Albertson, and Antolin: THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF SWIFT FOXES (VULPES VELOX) AND THEIR FLEAS IN PLAGUE OUTBREAKS IN PRAIRIE DOGS

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Daniel J. Salkeld, Rebecca J. Eisen, Paul Stapp, Aryn P. Wilder, Jennifer Lowell, Daniel W. Tripp, Doug Albertson, and Michael F. Antolin "THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF SWIFT FOXES (VULPES VELOX) AND THEIR FLEAS IN PLAGUE OUTBREAKS IN PRAIRIE DOGS," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 43(3), 425-431, (1 July 2007). https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-43.3.425

Received: 22 June 2006; Published: 1 July 2007

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