Burrow Dusting or Oral Vaccination Prevents Plague-Associated Prairie Dog Colony Collapse

EcoHealth, Jun 2017

Plague impacts prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.), the endangered black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) and other sensitive wildlife species. We compared efficacy of prophylactic treatments (burrow dusting with deltamethrin or oral vaccination with recombinant “sylvatic plague vaccine” [RCN-F1/V307]) to placebo treatment in black-tailed prairie dog (C. ludovicianus) colonies. Between 2013 and 2015, we measured prairie dog apparent survival, burrow activity and flea abundance on triplicate plots (“blocks”) receiving dust, vaccine or placebo treatment. Epizootic plague affected all three blocks but emerged asynchronously. Dust plots had fewer fleas per burrow (P < 0.0001), and prairie dogs captured on dust plots had fewer fleas (P < 0.0001) than those on vaccine or placebo plots. Burrow activity and prairie dog density declined sharply in placebo plots when epizootic plague emerged. Patterns in corresponding dust and vaccine plots were less consistent and appeared strongly influenced by timing of treatment applications relative to plague emergence. Deltamethrin or oral vaccination enhanced apparent survival within two blocks. Applying insecticide or vaccine prior to epizootic emergence blunted effects of plague on prairie dog survival and abundance, thereby preventing colony collapse. Successful plague mitigation will likely entail strategic combined uses of burrow dusting and oral vaccination within large colonies or colony complexes.

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Burrow Dusting or Oral Vaccination Prevents Plague-Associated Prairie Dog Colony Collapse

Published online: June Burrow Dusting or Oral Vaccination Prevents Plague- Associated Prairie Dog Colony Collapse Daniel W. Tripp 2 Tonie E. Rocke 1 Jonathan P. Runge 0 Rachel C. Abbott 1 Michael W. Miller 2 0 Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife, Terrestrial Resources Program , 317 West Prospect Road, Fort Collins, CO 80526-2097 , USA 1 United States Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center , 6006 Schroeder Road, Madison, WI 53711 , USA 2 Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife, Wildlife Health Program , 4330 Laporte Avenue, Fort Collins, CO 80521-2153 , USA Plague impacts prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.), the endangered black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) and other sensitive wildlife species. We compared efficacy of prophylactic treatments (burrow dusting with deltamethrin or oral vaccination with recombinant ''sylvatic plague vaccine'' [RCN-F1/V307]) to placebo treatment in black-tailed prairie dog (C. ludovicianus) colonies. Between 2013 and 2015, we measured prairie dog apparent survival, burrow activity and flea abundance on triplicate plots (''blocks'') receiving dust, vaccine or placebo treatment. Epizootic plague affected all three blocks but emerged asynchronously. Dust plots had fewer fleas per burrow (P < 0.0001), and prairie dogs captured on dust plots had fewer fleas (P < 0.0001) than those on vaccine or placebo plots. Burrow activity and prairie dog density declined sharply in placebo plots when epizootic plague emerged. Patterns in corresponding dust and vaccine plots were less consistent and appeared strongly influenced by timing of treatment applications relative to plague emergence. Deltamethrin or oral vaccination enhanced apparent survival within two blocks. Applying insecticide or vaccine prior to epizootic emergence blunted effects of plague on prairie dog survival and abundance, thereby preventing colony collapse. Successful plague mitigation will likely entail strategic combined uses of burrow dusting and oral vaccination within large colonies or colony complexes. Black-tailed prairie dog; Cynomys ludovicianus; Deltamethrin; Plague; Raccoonpox; Vaccine INTRODUCTION Plague—caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis—impacts numerous wildlife species worldwide. Its introduction has contributed to the degradation of North American grassland and shrub-steppe ecosystems (Gage and Kosoy 2005; Augustine et al. 2008; Eads and Biggins 2015). Prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) in particular suffer plague-driven mass mortality that can collapse colony complexes over large geographic areas (e.g., Ecke and Johnson 1952). Other associated wildlife species, like the endangered black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) that rely on prairie dogs for habitat or prey, may be directly or indirectly affected by plague (Antolin et al. 2002; Biggins et al. 2010). The ability to mitigate plague at an ecologically meaningful scale has thus emerged as a critical conservation need (Creekmore et al. 2002; Seglund and Schnurr 2010; Biggins et al. 2010; Abbott et al. 2012) . Until recently, the plague management approach most widely practiced in North America was reactive use of insecticides to control fleas, the primary plague vector (Seery et al. 2003; Biggins et al. 2010) . This approach can be effective in reducing mortality and spillover to domestic animals and humans but does little to offset the broader ecological impacts of epizootic plague. Since the early 2000s, attention has shifted to developing preventive plague management approaches for prairie dog habitats via vector control (Hoogland et al. 2004; Biggins et al. 2010; Griebel 2012; Jachowski et al. 2012; Tripp et al. 2016) and oral vaccination (Mencher et al. 2004; Rocke et al. 2010, 2014; Abbott et al. 2012) . Here, we describe a field experiment designed to assess and compare the effectiveness of annual burrow dusting or oral vaccination in preventing plague in a black-tailed prairie dog (C. ludovicianus) colony complex. Our study provides insights into the benefits and limitations in field application of two specific plague management tools: deltamethrin dust (Seery et al. 2003; Biggins et al. 2010; Tripp et al. 2016) and a raccoonpox-vectored plague vaccine designated ‘‘sylvatic plague vaccine’’ or SPV (Abbott et al. 2012; Rocke et al. 2014; Tripp et al. 2015) . Our observations also more broadly inform on developing adaptive management strategies intended to prevent widespread, plague-induced mortality among prairie dogs. METHODS This study was conducted during Aug 2012–Oct 2015 as a collaboration of the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife (CPW), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) and the City of Fort Collins. The CPW Animal Care and Use Committee (file number 05-2012 and 06-2013) approved study protocols. Field use of vaccine was approved by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Center for Veterinary Biologics (USDA CVB), and an environmental assessment of vaccine use was completed by (...truncated)


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Daniel W. Tripp, Tonie E. Rocke, Jonathan P. Runge, Rachel C. Abbott, Michael W. Miller. Burrow Dusting or Oral Vaccination Prevents Plague-Associated Prairie Dog Colony Collapse, EcoHealth, 2017, pp. 451-462, Volume 14, Issue 3, DOI: 10.1007/s10393-017-1236-y