Burrowing Owls, Pulex irritans, and Plague
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-17-2015
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/vbz.2015.1772
Abstract
Western Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) are small, ground-dwelling owls of western North America that frequent prairie dog (CynomysI spp.) towns and other grasslands. Because they rely on rodent prey and occupy burrows once or concurrently inhabited for 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 anitbodies 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.
Publication Information
Belthoff, James R.; Price, Emily; and Tinker, Juliette K.. (2015). "Burrowing Owls, Pulex irritans, and Plague". Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, 15(9), 556-564.
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