Ecology of Plague

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Research Task: 8327CN9.2.0
Task Manager: Dean Biggins

Because sylvatic plague is a serious threat to prairie dog colonies and the endangered black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) that depend upon them, FORT scientists are investigating the dynamics of plague in the wild. This study is directed toward gaining further understanding of the ecology of plague during periods between epizootic outbreaks of the disease in prairie dogs Cynomys spp.). If enzootic plague is depressing populations of small mammals, an ambitious effort to remove plague could allow increased population densities to develop over a several-year period. Investigators are attempting to reduce the incidence of plague (or eliminate it) from test areas by reducing the population of fleas, which transmit the disease. The initial objectives of this study are to (1) assess efficacy, longevity, and cost of flea control using deltamethrin delivered as dust within burrows and (2) measure population responses of prairie dogs and associated mammals. Research, development, and field trials of vaccines against sylvatic plague in prairie dogs and black-footed ferrets are also underway.

For more information contact Dean Biggins