New Knowledge on the Ecology of Sylvatic Plague

An Insecticide-Bait-Box Method for the Control of Sylvatic Plague Vectors

“…Although both species have been found to lack a high degree of host specificity, the frequency and percentage occurrence of Hystrichopsylla linsdalei on hosts other than Microtus have been shown to be much more restricted than for Malaraeus telchinum (Miles, Kinney & Stark, 1957;Murray, 1957). Under the same conditions, M. telchinum was found on 6 host species in addition to Microtus, whereas Hystrichopsylla linsdalei was found only on 3 additional host species (Kartman et al 1958). The 462 Sylvatic plague-control of vectors available evidence suggests that effective control of H. linsdalei must take place in the host's nest.…”

“…The approach to the problem was based upon methods which were developed to control plague vectors affecting Hawaiian field rats (Kartman & Lonergan, 1955). Small portions of the data have been presented elsewhere (Kartman, 1957;Kartman et al 1958), but the present report gives the detailed findings.…”

“…No rodent nests were collected during the period in which the effects of 10 0 DDT were being evaluated. of this is evident in the light of recent studies which suggest that M. californicus is the primary enzootic plague reservoir in the San Francisco Bay region (Kartman et al 1958). The summary of fleas taken from the rodents (Table 2) shows that M. californicus was host to over 90 % of all fleas collected and was the preferred 458 host to four of the five flea species encountered.…”

“…The manifest decline of classical rat-borne urban plague, especially in port cities and centres of world trade, and the relative stability of sylvatic plague has suggested that wild rodent plague should now receive more attention in the International Sanitary Regulations of WHO (Kartman, Prince, Quan & Stark 1958), especially since travellers who fall ill with bubonic plague en route from an infected locality 'are particularly prone to secondary lung involvement' (Meyer, 1957 a). In spite of the continuing importance of the sylvatic form of the disease, methods for the control of wild rodent plague yet remain to be established.…”

“…For the most part, control has been devoted to the decimation of wild rodent populations and one searches a recent comprehensive monograph (Pollitzer, 1954) in vain for reports on the control of epizootic plague by the control of wild rodent fleas. Although some tests have been made on the control of ground squirrel fleas (Stewart & Mackie, 1938;Miles & Wilcomb, 1953;Ryckman, Ames & Lindt, 1953) and the fleas in easily accessible gerbil burrows (Davis, 1951), there has been noinvestigation devoted to the control of plague vectors affecting the small cricetine and microtine rodents which are now considered to be of fundamental importance as plague reservoirs (Baltazard, Bahmanyar, Mofidi & Seydian, 1952;Heisch, 1956;Kartman et al 1958).…”