Prairie Dogs, Persistent Plague, Flocking Fleas, and Pernicious Positive Feedback.

ABSTRACT: Plague (caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis) is a deadly flea-borne disease that remains a threat to public health nearly worldwide and is particularly disruptive ecologically where it has been introduced. We review hypotheses regarding maintenance and transmission of Y. pestis, emphasizing recent data from North America supporting maintenance by persistent transmission that results in sustained non-epizootic (but variable) rates of mortality in hosts. This maintenance mechanism may facilitate periodic epizootic eruptions "in place" because the need for repeated reinvasion from disjunct sources is eliminated. Resulting explosive outbreaks that spread rapidly in time and space are likely enhanced by synergistic positive feedback (PFB) cycles involving flea vectors, hosts,

SUBMITTER: Biggins DE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6447679 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature