Potential effects of environmental conditions on prairie dog flea development and implications for sylvatic plague epizootics

EcoHealth
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Abstract

Fleas are common ectoparasites of vertebrates worldwide and vectors of many pathogens causing disease, such as sylvatic plague in prairie dog colonies. Development of fleas is regulated by environmental conditions, especially temperature and relative humidity. Development rates are typically slower at low temperatures and faster at high temperatures, which are bounded by lower and upper thresholds where development is reduced. Prairie dogs and their associated fleas (mostly Oropsylla spp) live in burrows that moderate outside environmental conditions, remaining cooler in summer and warmer in winter. We found burrow microclimates were characterized by stable daily temperatures and high relative humidity, with temperatures increasing from spring through summer. We previously showed temperature increases corresponded with increasing off-host flea abundance. To evaluate how changes in temperature could affect future prairie dog flea development and abundance, we used development rates of O. montana (a species related to prairie dog fleas), determined how prairie dog burrow microclimates are affected by ambient weather, and combined these results to develop a predictive model. Our model predicts burrow temperatures and flea development rates will increase during the twenty-first century, potentially leading to higher flea abundance and an increased probability of plague epizootics if Y. pestis is present.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Potential effects of environmental conditions on prairie dog flea development and implications for sylvatic plague epizootics
Series title EcoHealth
DOI 10.1007/s10393-022-01615-6
Volume 19
Year Published 2022
Language English
Publisher Springer
Contributing office(s) National Wildlife Health Center
Description 13 p.
First page 365
Last page 377
Country Mexico, United States
State Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota
Other Geospatial Buffalo Gap National Grassland, Bureau of Land Management land surrounding Roswell, Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, Lower Brule Sioux Reservation, Pueblo Chemical Depot, Theodore Roosevelt National Park
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