Abstract
BackgroundPlague, a zoonotic disease caused by Yersinia pestis, is characterized by its ability to persist in the plague natural foci. Junggar Basin plague focus was recently identified in China, with Rhombomys opimus (great gerbils) and Xenopsylla skrjabini as the main reservoir and vector for plague. No transmission efficiency data of X. skrjabini for Y. pestis is available till now.MethodsIn this study, we estimated the median infectious dose (ID50) and the blockage rates of X. skrjabini with Y. pestis, by using artificial feeders. We then evaluated the flea transmission ability of Y. pestis to the mice and great gerbils via artificial bloodmeal feeding. Finally, we investigated the transmission of Y. pestis to mice with fleas fed by infected great gerbils.ResultsID50 of Y. pestis to X. skrjabini was estimated as 2.04 × 105 CFU (95% CI, 1.45 × 105 – 3.18 × 105 CFU), around 40 times higher than that of X. cheopis. Although fleas fed by higher bacteremia bloodmeal had higher infection rates for Y. pestis, they lived significantly shorter than their counterparts. X. skrjabini could get fully blocked as early as day 3 post of infection (7.1%, 3/42 fleas), and the overall blockage rate of X. cheopis was estimated as 14.9% (82/550 fleas) during the 14 days of investigation. For the fleas infected by artificial feeders, they seemed to transmit plague more efficiently to great gerbils than mice. Our single flea transmission experiments also revealed that, the transmission capacity of naturally infected fleas (fed by infected great gerbils) was significantly higher than that of artificially infected ones (fed by artificial feeders).ConclusionOur results indicated that ID50 of Y. pestis to X. skrjabini was higher than other fleas like X. cheopis, and its transmission efficiency to mice might be lower than other flea vectors in the artificial feeding modes. We also found different transmission potentials in the artificially infected fleas and the naturally infected ones. Further studies are needed to figure out the role of X. skrjabini in the plague epidemiological cycles in Junggar Basin plague focus.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-015-0852-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Plague, a zoonotic disease caused by Yersinia pestis, is characterized by its ability to persist in the plague natural foci
ID50 of X. skrjabini with Y. pestis Table 1 listed the initial infection rates of X. skrjabini fed by artificial bloodmeal with different bacteria concentration
The Junggar Basin plague focus was recently identified in China in 2005, with the great gerbils and X. skrjabini as the main reservoir and vector [7,8,18]
Summary
A zoonotic disease caused by Yersinia pestis, is characterized by its ability to persist in the plague natural foci. Junggar Basin plague focus was recently identified in China, with Rhombomys opimus (great gerbils) and Xenopsylla skrjabini as the main reservoir and vector for plague. A typical zoonotic disease caused by Yersinia pestis, is characterized by its ability to persist in certain natural environments (the plague focus) [1,2,3]. Extensive field investigation in the Junggar Basin focus had revealed that different kinds of rodents, including Rhombomys. Zhang et al Parasites & Vectors (2015) 8:256 opimus (great gerbils), Merionese rythrourus, M. tamariscinus, Dipus sagitta etc., and various kinds of parasitic fleas, including Xenopsylla skrjabini, X. minax, X. conformis and Echidnophaga oschanini etc., were involved in the epidemiological cycles of plague in this focus. The great gerbils are widely distributed in in sandy or clay desert areas throughout Central Asia (Northwestern China, Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, etc.), and have been confirmed as the major reservoir of some vector-borne zoonoses including plague and leishmaniosis in these areas [9]
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