ArticleBMC research notes2017
Serological and PCR investigation of Yersinia pestis in potential reservoir hosts from a plague outbreak focus in Zambia.
Article in BMC research notes, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Unveiling the hidden threats: a review of pathogen diversity and public health risks from bats, rodents, and non-human primates in Zambia (1990-2022).Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Emergence, global dispersal, and local adaptations ofApplied and environmental microbiology · 2026Review
- Plagued by the Past, Pressed by the Present: A One Health Perspective onBiomedicines · 2025Review
- Plague and tularemia surveillance in hormozgan province, Southern Iran.BMC veterinary research · 2025Article
- Multiplex PCR System for the Diagnosis of Plague.Current molecular medicine · 2025Review
- Molecular Surveillance ofArchives of Razi Institute · 2024Article
- Mapping Plague Risk Using Super Species Distribution Models and Forecasts for Rodents in the Zhambyl Region, Kazakhstan.GeoHealth · 2023Article
- Applications of polymerase chain reaction-based methods for the diagnosis of plague (Review).Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2022Review
- Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPlague is a bacterial zoonotic disease, caused by Yersinia pestis. Rodents are the natural hosts with fleas as the vehicle of disease transmission. Domestic and wild dogs and cats have also been identified as possible disease hosts. In Zambia, plague outbreaks have been reported in the Southern and Eastern regions in the last 20 years. Based on these observations, Y. pestis could possibly be endemically present in the area.
methodsTo substantiate such possibility, sera samples were collected from rodents, shrews, dogs and cats for detection of antibodies against Fraction 1 gene (Fra1) of Y. pestis while organs from rodents and shrews, and fleas from both dogs and rodents were collected to investigate plasminogen activator gene (pla gene) of Y. pestis using ELISA and PCR respectively.
resultsA total of 369 blood samples were collected from domestic carnivores, shrews and domestic and peri-domestic rodents while 199 organs were collected from the rodents and shrews. Blood samples were tested for antibodies against Fra1 antigen using ELISA and 3% (5/165) (95% CI 0.99-6.93%) dogs were positive while all cats were negative. Of 199 sera from rodents and shrews, 12.6% (95% CI 8.30-17.98%) were positive for antibodies against Fra1 using anti-rat IgG secondary antibody while using anti-mouse IgG secondary antibody, 17.6% (95% CI 12.57-23.60%) were positive. PCR was run on the organs and 2.5% (95% CI 0.82-5.77%) were positive for plasminogen activator gene of Y. pestis and the amplicons were sequenced and showed 99% identity with Y. pestis reference sequences. All 82 fleas collected from animals subjected to PCR, were negative for pla gene. The specific rat-flea and dog-flea indices were 0.19 and 0.27 respectively, which were lower than the level required to enhance chances of the disease outbreak.
conclusionsWe concluded that plague was still endemic in the area and the disease may infect human beings if contact is enhanced between reservoir hosts and flea vectors. The lower specific rodent-flea Indices and absence of Y. pestis in the potential vectors were considered to be partly responsible for the current absence of plague outbreaks despite its presence in the sylvatic cycle.
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