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Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to clarify the role of gray marmots (Marmota baibacina) in the long-term maintenance of highly virulent strains of Yersinia pestis in two plague endemic foci of the Tien Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan. We present data from regular observations of populations of M. baibacina and small rodents cohabiting with marmots in the mountainous grasslands of the Sari-Dzhas (east of Issyk-Kul Lake) and the Upper-Naryn (south of Issyk-Kul Lake) natural foci. During 2012–2017, an abundance of marmots and their ectoparasites (fleas and ticks) was significantly higher in Upper-Naryn comparing to Sari-Dzhas, although there were no differences in a number and diversity of small rodents cohabiting with marmots. The plague bacterium was detected either in marmots or in their ectoparasites collected during 4 of 6 years of observation in Sari-Dzhas and during 2 of 4 years of observation in Upper-Naryn. Plague was found in three sectors situated closely to each other in Sari-Dzhas and in 1 of 8 repeatedly surveyed sectors in Upper-Naryn. During 6 years, we isolated 9 strains of Y. pestis from marmots, two from their fleas Oropsylla silantiewi, one from an unidentified tick, and one from the gray hamster (Cricetulus migratorius). All plague strains isolated from the rodents and their ectoparasites in this study were similar to Antiqua biovar specific for marmots. The results indicate that plague can circulate continuously in the Tien Shan Mountains in populations of gray marmots and their ectoparasites with a facultative involvement of other rodent species after significant changes in rodent communities that happened in Kyrgyzstan during the previous two decades. The simultaneous field survey of two natural foci of plague, Sari-Dzhas, and Upper-Naryn, would be important for further analysis of circulation of Y. pestis strains belonging to Antiqua biovar in the Tien Shan Mountains.
Highlights
One of the most active plague endemic areas in the world is located in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia
The first plague outbreak with high human mortality was recorded in the Kyrgyzstan part of Tien Shan focus in 1907, and the last big outbreak of plague occurred in 1928 in the Bash-Kaindi settlement of Atbashi district resulting in 54 deaths (Upper-Naryn mezofocus) [4]
In the Sari-Dzhas plague focus for the period 2012 to 2017, we surveyed a total of 3,700 km2, out of which 500 km2 were surveyed repeatedly in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2016 (Figure 1; Table 4)
Summary
One of the most active plague endemic areas in the world is located in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia. There are two independent foci of plague in the Issyk-Kul province: the Sari-Dzhas (east of Issyk-Kul Lake) and the Upper-Naryn (south of Issyk-Kul Lake) sub-regions of the Tien Shan natural focus of plague [1, 2]. Most of the 5,000 km SariDzhas natural plague focus is located in Kyrgyzstan (4,250 km2), with a part extending to Kazakhstan (750 km). The first plague outbreak with high human mortality was recorded in the Kyrgyzstan part of Tien Shan focus in 1907, and the last big outbreak of plague occurred in 1928 in the Bash-Kaindi settlement of Atbashi district resulting in 54 deaths (Upper-Naryn mezofocus) [4]. The endemic areas were investigated previously starting from 1942, and the last activity of plague was reported there in 1983 [4, 6, 7]
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