Oropsylla hirsuta (Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae) Can Support Plague Epizootics in Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) by Early-Phase Transmission of Yersinia pestis

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aryn P. Wilder ◽  
Rebecca J. Eisen ◽  
Scott W. Bearden ◽  
John A. Montenieri ◽  
Kenneth L. Gage ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Yersinia Pestis ◽  
Early Phase ◽  
Cynomys Ludovicianus ◽  
Prairie Dogs ◽  
Phase Transmission ◽  
Oropsylla Hirsuta

Early-Phase Transmission of Yersinia pestis by Unblocked Xenopsylla cheopis (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) Is as Efficient as Transmission by Blocked Fleas

2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 678-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca J. Eisen ◽  
Aryn P. Wilder ◽  
Scott W. Bearden ◽  
John A. Montenieri ◽  
Kenneth L. Gage
Keyword(s):  
Yersinia Pestis ◽  
Early Phase ◽  
Xenopsylla Cheopis ◽  
Phase Transmission

scholarly journals Yersinia murine toxin is not required for early-phase transmission of Yersinia pestis by Oropsylla montana (Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae) or Xenopsylla cheopis (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae)

Microbiology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 160 (11) ◽  
pp. 2517-2525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tammi L. Johnson ◽  
B. Joseph Hinnebusch ◽  
Karen A. Boegler ◽  
Christine B. Graham ◽  
Katherine MacMillan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Yersinia Pestis ◽  
Post Infection ◽  
Early Phase ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Xenopsylla Cheopis ◽  
Multiple Blood ◽  
Phase Transmission ◽  
Oropsylla Montana ◽  
Pathogen Vector ◽  
Blood Meals

Plague, caused by Yersinia pestis, is characterized by quiescent periods punctuated by rapidly spreading epizootics. The classical ‘blocked flea’ paradigm, by which a blockage forms in the flea’s proventriculus on average 1–2 weeks post-infection (p.i.), forces starving fleas to take multiple blood meals, thus increasing opportunities for transmission. Recently, the importance of early-phase transmission (EPT), which occurs prior to blockage formation, has been emphasized during epizootics. Whilst the physiological and molecular mechanisms of blocked flea transmission are well characterized, the pathogen–vector interactions have not been elucidated for EPT. Within the blocked flea model, Yersinia murine toxin (Ymt) has been shown to be important for facilitating colonization of the midgut within the flea. One proposed mechanism of EPT is the regurgitation of infectious material from the flea midgut during feeding. Such a mechanism would require bacteria to colonize and survive for at least brief periods in the midgut, a process that is mediated by Ymt. Two key bridging vectors of Y. pestis to humans, Oropsylla montana (Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae) or Xenopsylla cheopis (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae), were used in our study to test this hypothesis. Fleas were infected with a mutant strain of Y. pestis containing a non-functional ymt that was shown previously to be incapable of colonizing the midgut and were then allowed to feed on SKH-1 mice 3 days p.i. Our results show that Ymt was not required for EPT by either flea species.

Demonstration of Early-Phase Transmission of Yersinia pestis by the Mouse Flea, Aetheca wagneri (Siphonaptera: Ceratophylidae), and Implications for the Role of Deer Mice as Enzootic Reservoirs

2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1160-1164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca J. Eisen ◽  
Jennifer L. Holmes ◽  
Anna M. Schotthoefer ◽  
Sara M. Vetter ◽  
John A. Montenieri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Yersinia Pestis ◽  
Early Phase ◽  
Deer Mice ◽  
Phase Transmission

scholarly journals Comparison of the transmission efficiency and plague progression dynamics associated with two mechanisms by which fleas transmit Yersinia pestis

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e1009092
Author(s):  
Christopher F. Bosio ◽  
Clayton O. Jarrett ◽  
Dana P. Scott ◽  
Jonathan Fintzi ◽  
B. Joseph Hinnebusch
Keyword(s):  
Yersinia Pestis ◽  
Blood Meal ◽  
Early Phase ◽  
Blood Feeding ◽  
Rapid Onset ◽  
Transmission Efficiency ◽  
Intradermal Injection ◽  
Terminal Disease ◽  
Systemic Spread ◽  
Phase Transmission

Yersinia pestis can be transmitted by fleas during the first week after an infectious blood meal, termed early-phase or mass transmission, and again after Y. pestis forms a cohesive biofilm in the flea foregut that blocks normal blood feeding. We compared the transmission efficiency and the progression of infection after transmission by Oropsylla montana fleas at both stages. Fleas were allowed to feed on mice three days after an infectious blood meal to evaluate early-phase transmission, or after they had developed complete proventricular blockage. Transmission was variable and rather inefficient by both modes, and the odds of early-phase transmission was positively associated with the number of infected fleas that fed. Disease progression in individual mice bitten by fleas infected with a bioluminescent strain of Y. pestis was tracked. An early prominent focus of infection at the intradermal flea bite site and dissemination to the draining lymph node(s) soon thereafter were common features, but unlike what has been observed in intradermal injection models, this did not invariably lead to further systemic spread and terminal disease. Several of these mice resolved the infection without progression to terminal sepsis and developed an immune response to Y. pestis, particularly those that received an intermediate number of early-phase flea bites. Furthermore, two distinct types of terminal disease were noted: the stereotypical rapid onset terminal disease within four days, or a prolonged onset preceded by an extended, fluctuating infection of the lymph nodes before eventual systemic dissemination. For both modes of transmission, bubonic plague rather than primary septicemic plague was the predominant disease outcome. The results will help to inform mathematical models of flea-borne plague dynamics used to predict the relative contribution of the two transmission modes to epizootic outbreaks that erupt periodically from the normal enzootic background state.

scholarly journals Protection of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) against Plague after Voluntary Consumption of Baits Containing Recombinant Raccoon Poxvirus Vaccine

2004 ◽  
Vol 72 (9) ◽  
pp. 5502-5505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan S. Mencher ◽  
Susan R. Smith ◽  
Tim D. Powell ◽  
Dan T. Stinchcomb ◽  
Jorge E. Osorio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Yersinia Pestis ◽  
Negative Control ◽  
Cynomys Ludovicianus ◽  
Prairie Dogs ◽  
Western United States ◽  
F1 Antigen ◽  
Antibody Titers ◽  
Negative Controls

ABSTRACT Prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) are highly susceptible to Yersinia pestis and significant reservoirs of plague for humans in the western United States. A recombinant raccoon poxvirus, expressing the F1 antigen of Y. pestis, was incorporated into a palatable bait and offered to 18 black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) for voluntary consumption; 18 negative control animals received placebo baits. Antibody titers against Y. pestis F1 antigen increased significantly (P < 0.01) in vaccinees, and their survival was significantly higher upon challenge with Y. pestis than that of negative controls (P < 0.01).

scholarly journals Biofilm formation is not required for early-phase transmission of Yersinia pestis

Microbiology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 156 (7) ◽  
pp. 2216-2225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara M. Vetter ◽  
Rebecca J. Eisen ◽  
Anna M. Schotthoefer ◽  
John A. Montenieri ◽  
Jennifer L. Holmes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Yersinia Pestis ◽  
Early Phase ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Parent Strain ◽  
Rapid Spread ◽  
Dependent Model ◽  
Phase Transmission ◽  
Oropsylla Montana ◽  
Mammal Host

Early-phase transmission (EPT) is a recently described model of plague transmission that explains the rapid spread of disease from flea to mammal host during an epizootic. Unlike the traditional blockage-dependent model of plague transmission, EPT can occur when a flea takes its first blood meal after initially becoming infected by feeding on a bacteraemic host. Blockage of the flea gut results from biofilm formation in the proventriculus, mediated by the gene products found in the haemin storage (hms) locus of the Yersinia pestis chromosome. Although biofilms are required for blockage-dependent transmission, the role of biofilms in EPT has yet to be determined. An artificial feeding system was used to feed Xenopsylla cheopis and Oropsylla montana rat blood spiked with the parental Y. pestis strain KIM5(pCD1)+, two different biofilm-deficient mutants (ΔhmsT, ΔhmsR), or a biofilm-overproducer mutant (ΔhmsP). Infected fleas were then allowed to feed on naïve Swiss Webster mice for 1–4 days after infection, and the mice were monitored for signs of infection. We also determined the bacterial loads of each flea that fed upon naïve mice. Biofilm-defective mutants transmitted from X. cheopis and O. montana as efficiently as the parent strain, whereas the EPT efficiency of fleas fed the biofilm-overproducing strain was significantly less than that of fleas fed either the parent or a biofilm-deficient strain. Fleas infected with a biofilm-deficient strain harboured lower bacterial loads 4 days post-infection than fleas infected with the parent strain. Thus, defects in biofilm formation did not prevent flea-borne transmission of Y. pestis in our EPT model, although biofilm overproduction inhibited efficient EPT. Our results also indicate, however, that biofilms may play a role in infection persistence in the flea.

scholarly journals Early-phase transmission of Yersinia pestis by unblocked fleas as a mechanism explaining rapidly spreading plague epizootics

2006 ◽  
Vol 103 (42) ◽  
pp. 15380-15385 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Eisen ◽  
S. W. Bearden ◽  
A. P. Wilder ◽  
J. A. Montenieri ◽  
M. F. Antolin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Yersinia Pestis ◽  
Early Phase ◽  
Phase Transmission
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