Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22280795›Full record

ArticleBMC research notes2012

Evidence of Yersinia pestis DNA from fleas in an endemic plague area of Zambia.

Bernard M Hang'ombe, Ichiro Nakamura, Kenny L Samui, Davy Kaile, Aaron S Mweene, Bukheti S Kilonzo, Hirofumi Sawa, Chihiro Sugimoto, Brendan W Wren

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC research notes, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Emergence, global dispersal, and local adaptations ofApplied and environmental microbiology · 2026
    Review
  2. Multiplex PCR System for the Diagnosis of Plague.Current molecular medicine · 2025
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Yersinia pestis: the Natural History of Plague.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2020
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.

Bernard M Hang'ombeSchool of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia. mudenda68@yahoo.com.
Ichiro Nakamura
Kenny L Samui
Davy Kaile
Aaron S Mweene
Bukheti S Kilonzo
Hirofumi Sawa
Chihiro Sugimoto
Brendan W Wren
Hokkaido University · JPUniversity of Zambia · ZMLondon School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine · GBSokoine University of Agriculture · TZ

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundYersinia pestis is a bacterium that causes plague which infects a variety of mammals throughout the world. The disease is usually transmitted among wild rodents through a flea vector. The sources and routes of transmission of plague are poorly researched in Africa, yet remains a concern in several sub-Saharan countries. In Zambia, the disease has been reported on annual basis with up to 20 cases per year, without investigating animal reservoirs or vectors that may be responsible in the maintenance and propagation of the bacterium. In this study, we undertook plague surveillance by using PCR amplification of the plasminogen activator gene in fleas.

findingsXenopsylla species of fleas were collected from 83 rodents trapped in a plague endemic area of Zambia. Of these rodents 5 had fleas positive (6.02%) for Y. pestis plasminogen activator gene. All the Y. pestis positive rodents were gerbils.

conclusionsWe conclude that fleas may be responsible in the transmission of Y. pestis and that PCR may provide means of plague surveillance in the endemic areas of Zambia.

Identifiers

PMID22280795
PMCPMC3283462
OpenAlexW2152575505

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.