ArticlePloS one2014
Experimental Infection of voles with Francisella tularensis indicates their amplification role in tularemia outbreaks.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- A slow decay to extinction: cold temperatures and reduced microbial complexity prolong the persistence of planktonicApplied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Very Low Serological Evidence of Exposure toPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- First molecular detection ofVeterinary and animal science · 2025Article
- Host species and environment drivers of ectoparasite community of rodents in a Mojave Desert wetlands.PloS one · 2022Article
- Long-Term Survival of Virulent Tularemia Pathogens outside a Host in Conditions That Mimic Natural Aquatic Environments.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2021Article
- Linking Zoonosis Emergence to Farmland Invasion by Fluctuating Herbivores: Common Vole Populations and Tularemia Outbreaks in NW Spain.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2021Review
- Pathology of natural Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica infection in two yellow-necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis).Acta veterinaria Scandinavica · 2018Article
- Environmental Surveillance of ZoonoticFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2018Article
- Environmental surveillance during an outbreak of tularaemia in hares, the Netherlands, 2015.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2017Article
- Density-Dependent Prevalence of Francisella tularensis in Fluctuating Vole Populations, Northwestern Spain.Emerging infectious diseases · 2017Article
- A Bioluminescent Francisella tularensis SCHU S4 Strain Enables Noninvasive Tracking of Bacterial Dissemination and the Evaluation of Antibiotics in an Inhalational Mouse Model of Tularemia.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2016Article
- High and novel genetic diversity of Francisella tularensis in Germany and indication of environmental persistence.Epidemiology and infection · 2016Article
- Respiratory Tularemia:The open microbiology journal · 2016Article
- Detection of Lyme Disease and Q Fever Agents in Wild Rodents in Central Italy.Vector borne and zoonotic diseases (Larchmont, N.Y.) · 2015Article
- Transmission of tularemia from a water source by transstadial maintenance in a mosquito vector.Scientific reports · 2015Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Tularemia outbreaks in humans have been linked to fluctuations in rodent population density, but the mode of bacterial maintenance in nature is unclear. Here we report on an experiment to investigate the pathogenesis of Francisella tularensis infection in wild rodents, and thereby assess their potential to spread the bacterium. We infected 20 field voles (Microtus agrestis) and 12 bank voles (Myodes glareolus) with a strain of F. tularensis ssp. holarctica isolated from a human patient. Upon euthanasia or death, voles were necropsied and specimens collected for histological assessment and identification of bacteria by immunohistology and PCR. Bacterial excretion and a rapid lethal clinical course with pathological changes consistent with bacteremia and tissue necrosis were observed in infected animals. The results support a role for voles as an amplification host of F. tularensis, as excreta and, in particular, carcasses with high bacterial burden could serve as a source for environmental contamination.
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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.