Potential mammalian reservoirs in a bubonic plague outbreak focus in Mbulu District, northern Tanzania, in 2007
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Rhodes H. Makundi
Abstract
This study investigated mammalian involvement in an outbreak of bubonic plague in Mbulu District, northern Tanzania, in March 2007. Plague is a rodent-borne zoonotic disease that spreads to humans through fleas infected with Yersinia pestis. Live trapping of rodents and shrews was conducted in fallow and crop fields, peri-domestic areas, houses and the neighboring forest reserve. Serum was separated from blood of captured animals. A rapid diagnostic test (RDT) was used for diagnosis of plague infection. An ELISA technique was used to detect antibodies against Yersinia pestis fraction 1 antigen. Wild and commensal rodents tested positive by RDT, indicating current infection in clinically healthy animals. The ELISA showed that wild rodents (Lophuromys flavopunctatus, Praomys delectorum, Graphiurus murinus, Lemniscomys striatus) and commensal rats (Rattus rattus, Mastomys natalensis, Mus minutoides) were Y. pestis-positive. Two potential vectors, Xenopsylla brasiliensis and Dinopsyllus lypusus, were found on wild and commensal rodents with a flea index of 1.8. We conclude that diverse potential mammalian reservoirs and efficient vectors of Y. pestis are present in abundance in Dongobesh and could lead to persistence and future plague outbreaks.
©2008 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
Articles in the same Issue
- Preface
- Preface
- Original Studies
- Polyandry and polygyny in an African rodent pest species, Mastomys natalensis
- Social relationships in Mastomys huberti as deduced from field and genetic analyses of multiple capture data
- Dietary selection in Mastomys natalensis (Rodentia: Muridae) in the maize agro-ecosystems of central and southwestern Tanzania
- Diversity and distribution of rodent and shrew species associated with variations in altitude on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
- Correlating small mammal community characteristics and habitat integrity in the Caledon Nature Reserve, South Africa
- Farmer survey in the hinterland of Kisangani (Democratic Republic of Congo) on rodent crop damage and rodent control techniques used
- Ecology and ethnozoology of the three-cusped pangolin Manis tricuspis (Mammalia, Pholidota) in the Lama forest reserve, Benin
- Shrew trap efficiency: experience from primary forest, secondary forest, old fallow land and old palm plantation in the Congo River basin (Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo)
- Microgeographical distribution of shrews (Mammalia, Soricidae) in the Congo River basin (Kisangani, D.R. Congo)
- The presence of Praomys, Lophuromys, and Deomys species (Muridae, Mammalia) in the forest blocks separated by the Congo River and its tributaries (Kisangani region, Democratic Republic of Congo)
- Morphometric characterization of the Giant Pouched Rat (Cricetomys Waterhouse 1840) in the forest zone of South Western Nigeria
- Taxonomy and biogeography of the African Pygmy mice, Subgenus Nannomys (Rodentia, Murinae, Mus) in Ivory Coast and Guinea (West Africa)
- Potential mammalian reservoirs in a bubonic plague outbreak focus in Mbulu District, northern Tanzania, in 2007
- Short Note
- Sustainable small stock farming and ecosystem conservation in southern Africa: a role for small mammals?
- Book Reviews
- Book Reviews
- Meeting announcements
- 10.1515/MAMM.2008.013
Articles in the same Issue
- Preface
- Preface
- Original Studies
- Polyandry and polygyny in an African rodent pest species, Mastomys natalensis
- Social relationships in Mastomys huberti as deduced from field and genetic analyses of multiple capture data
- Dietary selection in Mastomys natalensis (Rodentia: Muridae) in the maize agro-ecosystems of central and southwestern Tanzania
- Diversity and distribution of rodent and shrew species associated with variations in altitude on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
- Correlating small mammal community characteristics and habitat integrity in the Caledon Nature Reserve, South Africa
- Farmer survey in the hinterland of Kisangani (Democratic Republic of Congo) on rodent crop damage and rodent control techniques used
- Ecology and ethnozoology of the three-cusped pangolin Manis tricuspis (Mammalia, Pholidota) in the Lama forest reserve, Benin
- Shrew trap efficiency: experience from primary forest, secondary forest, old fallow land and old palm plantation in the Congo River basin (Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo)
- Microgeographical distribution of shrews (Mammalia, Soricidae) in the Congo River basin (Kisangani, D.R. Congo)
- The presence of Praomys, Lophuromys, and Deomys species (Muridae, Mammalia) in the forest blocks separated by the Congo River and its tributaries (Kisangani region, Democratic Republic of Congo)
- Morphometric characterization of the Giant Pouched Rat (Cricetomys Waterhouse 1840) in the forest zone of South Western Nigeria
- Taxonomy and biogeography of the African Pygmy mice, Subgenus Nannomys (Rodentia, Murinae, Mus) in Ivory Coast and Guinea (West Africa)
- Potential mammalian reservoirs in a bubonic plague outbreak focus in Mbulu District, northern Tanzania, in 2007
- Short Note
- Sustainable small stock farming and ecosystem conservation in southern Africa: a role for small mammals?
- Book Reviews
- Book Reviews
- Meeting announcements
- 10.1515/MAMM.2008.013
