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

Abstract

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.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10393-017-1236-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Plague management of prairie dog colonies: degree and duration of deltamethrin flea control

“…DeltaDust® has a demonstrated record of protecting PDs against plague (Biggins et al , Jones et al , Tripp et al , , Griebel , ). Also, DeltaDust® can protect endangered black‐footed ferrets ( Mustela nigripes ), specialized predators of PDs that are directly susceptible to infection (Matchett et al ).…”

“…Nevertheless, annual treatments of burrows with DeltaDust® have failed to protect PDs in some cases. In Colorado, a colony of WTPDs was treated with DeltaDust® during 2010‐2015 and was nearly eliminated by plague four months after burrow treatments in 2015; two nearby dusted colonies persisted (Tripp et al ). In New Mexico, epizootic plague devastated a colony of Gunnison's PDs ( C. gunnisoni ) 12 months after burrow treatments in 2015 with prior dusting in 2013 and 2014 (Hoogland et al ).…”

“…The most widely used deltamethrin dust is reportedly waterproof but, like other insecticide dusts, degrades over time. Field studies demonstrate that deltamethrin can increase survival rates for PDs (Biggins et al , Tripp et al ) and maintain PD population genetic diversity (Jones et al ). Much remains to be learned about the degree and duration of deltamethrin efficacy for different PD species and under varying application conditions.…”

Reintroducing a keystone burrowing rodent to restore an arid North American grassland: challenges and successes

“…Previous efforts to establish prairie dog colonies on the SNWR had limited success despite multiple release efforts, and the chances for success in this system may become increasingly difficult with the climate becoming more arid and drought‐prone (Davidson et al ). While restoration goals may be more easily obtained in the mesic parts of their range, those populations are often exposed to more frequent sylvatic epizootics, and so require intensive management efforts via regular dusting with insecticide or distribution of the sylvatic plague vaccine to facilitate their persistence (Biggins et al ; Rocke et al ; Tripp et al ). With such uncertainty regarding reintroduction success for prairie dogs, and for wildlife reintroductions in general, we underscore the importance of setting well‐defined, quantifiable success criteria with associated time frames for assessment, prior to implementing a reintroduction project and embarking upon long‐term monitoring (Seddon et al ; IUCN/SSC ).…”

Intestinal B cells in the red‐eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta: Anatomical distribution and implications for ecological interactions with pathogenic microbes

“…For example, in principle, oral vaccines might be designed to specifically stimulate mucosal immunity in designated populations of turtles during a disease outbreak. This approach is a cost-effective method to immunize wildlife and has been successfully used to prevent rabies in many species, swine fever in wild boars, tuberculosis in wild badgers, and plague in prairie dogs (Carter et al, 2018;Newton et al, 2019;Rossi et al, 2010;Tripp, Rocke, Runge, Abbott, & Miller, 2017).…”