In:
PLOS Pathogens, Public Library of Science (PLoS), Vol. 18, No. 12 ( 2022-12-15), p. e1010996-
Abstract:
Yersinia pestis , the bacterial agent of plague, is enzootic in many parts of the world within wild rodent populations and is transmitted by different flea vectors. The ecology of plague is complex, with rodent hosts exhibiting varying susceptibilities to overt disease and their fleas exhibiting varying levels of vector competence. A long-standing question in plague ecology concerns the conditions that lead to occasional epizootics among susceptible rodents. Many factors are involved, but a major one is the transmission efficiency of the flea vector. In this study, using Oropsylla montana (a ground squirrel flea that is a major plague vector in the western United States), we comparatively quantified the efficiency of the two basic modes of flea-borne transmission. Transmission efficiency by the early-phase mechanism was strongly affected by the host blood source. Subsequent biofilm-dependent transmission by blocked fleas was less influenced by host blood and was more efficient. Mathematical modeling predicted that early-phase transmission could drive an epizootic only among highly susceptible rodents with certain blood characteristics, but that transmission by blocked O . montana could do so in more resistant hosts irrespective of their blood characteristics. The models further suggested that for most wild rodents, exposure to sublethal doses of Y . pestis transmitted during the early phase may restrain rapid epizootic spread by increasing the number of immune, resistant individuals in the population.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1553-7374
DOI:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1010996
DOI:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1010996.g001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1010996.g002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1010996.g003
DOI:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1010996.g004
DOI:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1010996.g005
DOI:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1010996.g006
DOI:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1010996.g007
DOI:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1010996.t001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1010996.t002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1010996.t003
DOI:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1010996.s001
DOI:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1010996.s002
DOI:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1010996.s003
DOI:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1010996.s004
DOI:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1010996.s005
Language:
English
Publisher:
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Publication Date:
2022
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2205412-1