ArticleParasites & vectors2015
Transmission efficiency of the plague pathogen (Y. pestis) by the flea, Xenopsylla skrjabini, to mice and great gerbils.
Article in Parasites & vectors, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interaction of Bacteria and Fleas, Focusing on the Plague Bacterium-A Review.Microorganisms · 2025Review
- Study on the aggregation patterns of fleas parasitizing the great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus) in the Junggar Basin plague natural focus.Parasites & vectors · 2025Article
- Flea infestation of rodent and their community structure in frequent and non-frequent plague outbreak areas in Mbulu district, northern Tanzania.International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2024Review
- Immunogenetics, sylvatic plague and its vectors: insights from the pathogen reservoir Mastomys natalensis in Tanzania.Immunogenetics · 2023Article
- Polygenic plague resistance in the great gerbil uncovered by population sequencing.PNAS nexus · 2022Article
- The Genome of the Great Gerbil Reveals Species-Specific Duplication of an MHCII Gene.Genome biology and evolution · 2020Article
- Evolutionary selection of biofilm-mediated extended phenotypes in Yersinia pestis in response to a fluctuating environment.Nature communications · 2020Article
- Infectious blood source alters early foregut infection and regurgitative transmission of Yersinia pestis by rodent fleas.PLoS pathogens · 2018Article
- Phenotypic and Molecular Genetic Characteristics ofThe American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2018Article
- Feeding Behavior Modulates Biofilm-Mediated Transmission of Yersinia pestis by the Cat Flea, Ctenocephalides felis.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2016Article
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPlague, a zoonotic disease caused by Yersinia pestis, is characterized by its ability to persist in the plague natural foci. Junggar Basin plague focus was recently identified in China, with Rhombomys opimus (great gerbils) and Xenopsylla skrjabini as the main reservoir and vector for plague. No transmission efficiency data of X. skrjabini for Y. pestis is available till now.
methodsIn this study, we estimated the median infectious dose (ID50) and the blockage rates of X. skrjabini with Y. pestis, by using artificial feeders. We then evaluated the flea transmission ability of Y. pestis to the mice and great gerbils via artificial bloodmeal feeding. Finally, we investigated the transmission of Y. pestis to mice with fleas fed by infected great gerbils.
resultsID50 of Y. pestis to X. skrjabini was estimated as 2.04 × 10(5) CFU (95% CI, 1.45 × 10(5) - 3.18 × 10(5) CFU), around 40 times higher than that of X. cheopis. Although fleas fed by higher bacteremia bloodmeal had higher infection rates for Y. pestis, they lived significantly shorter than their counterparts. X. skrjabini could get fully blocked as early as day 3 post of infection (7.1%, 3/42 fleas), and the overall blockage rate of X. cheopis was estimated as 14.9% (82/550 fleas) during the 14 days of investigation. For the fleas infected by artificial feeders, they seemed to transmit plague more efficiently to great gerbils than mice. Our single flea transmission experiments also revealed that, the transmission capacity of naturally infected fleas (fed by infected great gerbils) was significantly higher than that of artificially infected ones (fed by artificial feeders).
conclusionOur results indicated that ID50 of Y. pestis to X. skrjabini was higher than other fleas like X. cheopis, and its transmission efficiency to mice might be lower than other flea vectors in the artificial feeding modes. We also found different transmission potentials in the artificially infected fleas and the naturally infected ones. Further studies are needed to figure out the role of X. skrjabini in the plague epidemiological cycles in Junggar Basin plague focus.
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