Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T23:31:07.781Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Experimental plague infection in South African wild rodents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2009

A. J. Shepherd ,
P. A. Leman  and
D. E. Hummitzsch
A. J. Shepherd
Affiliation:
Special Pathogens Unit, National Institute for Virology, Private Bag X4, Sandringham 2131, Transvaal, South Africa
P. A. Leman
Affiliation:
Special Pathogens Unit, National Institute for Virology, Private Bag X4, Sandringham 2131, Transvaal, South Africa
D. E. Hummitzsch
Affiliation:
Special Pathogens Unit, National Institute for Virology, Private Bag X4, Sandringham 2131, Transvaal, South Africa
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Susceptibility studies were undertaken to determine the response of some South African wild rodent species to experimental plague (Yersinia pestis) infection.

A degree of plague resistance was found in three gerbil species captured in the plague enzootic region of the northern Cape Province, these being the Namaqua gerbil, Desmodillus auricularis, (LD50 1 × 106 organisms), the bushveld gerbil, Tatera leucogaster, (LD50 9·1 × 105) and the highveld gerbil, T. brantsii (LD50 4 × 102). Animals from a population of the four-striped mouse, Rhabdomys pumilio, captured in the plague area of Port Elizabeth, proved moderately resistant to experimental plague infection (LD 50 1·3 × 104) while those from another population of the same species captured in a plague-free area of the Orange Free State were extremely susceptible (LD50, 5 organisms). The response of both populations however was a heterogeneous one. Marked differences in susceptibility were also found between two populations of multimammate mice, Mastomys natalensis (2n = 32) although both originated from areas outwith the known distribution of plague in southern Africa.

The 50% infectious dose was relatively high in T. leucogaster (3·2 × 102) and D. auricularis (1·7 × 103), but was low (2–16 organisms) in the other rodent species tested.

The plague antibody response, determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), was extremely short-lived in T. leucogaster, only 10% of inoculated animals remaining seropositive at low titres after 11 weeks. Antibodies persisted for only slightly longer in the sera of T. brantsii which were reinoculated with 2 × 103 plague organisms 6 weeks after initial challenge.

The demonstration of the existence of both susceptible and resistant populations of R. pumilio and M. natalensis indicates that these species must be considered as potential plague reservoir hosts in parts of South Africa.

The results suggest that resistance to plague infection in previously epizootic hosts in the northern Cape Province such as Tatera sp. and D. auricularis has arisen through continual selective pressure of the organism. If the findings are applicable to gerbil populations in other plague enzootic regions of South Africa it is probable that acquired plague resistance has been responsible for the absence of gerbil epizootics and consequently for the dramatic decline in human plague outbreaks in South Africa since 1950.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 96 , Issue 2 , April 1986 , pp. 171 - 183
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

References

REFERENCES

Baltazard, M., Bahmanyar, M., Mostachfi, P., Eftekhari, M.Mofidi, C. H. (1960). Recherches sur la peste en Iran. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 23, 141–155.Google Scholar
Barnes, A. M. (1982). Surveillance and control of bubonic plague in the United States. Symposia of the Zoological Society of London 50, 237–270.Google Scholar
Burroughs, A. L. (1947). The vector efficiency of nine species of fleas compared with Xenopsylla cheopis. Journal of Hygiene 45, 371–396.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, T. H. & Meyer, K. K. (1974). Susceptibility and antibody response of Rattus species to experimental plague. Journal of Infectious Diseases 129, Supplement 562–71.Google ScholarPubMed
Davis, D. H. S. (1948). Sylvatic plague in South Africa: history of plague in man 1919–43. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 42. 207–217.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davis, D. H. S. (1953 a). Plague in South Africa: a study of the epizootic cycle in gerbils (Tatera brantsi) in the northern Orange Free State. Journal of Hygiene 51, 427–449.Google ScholarPubMed
Davis, D. H. S. (1953 b). Plague in Africa from 1935 to 1949. A survey of wild rodents in African territories. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 9, 665–700.Google ScholarPubMed
Davis, D. H. S. (1963). Wild rodents as laboratory animals and their contribution to medical research in South Africa. South African Journal of Medical Science 28, 53–69.Google Scholar
Davis, D. H. S. (1964). Ecology of wild rodent plague. In Ecological Studies in Southern Africa (ed. Davis, D. H. S.), pp. 301–314. The Hague: Dr W. Junk.Google Scholar
Fourie, L. (1938). The endemic focus of plague. South African Medical Journal 12, 352–358.Google Scholar
Goldenberg, M. I., Quan, S. F. & Hudson, B. W. (1964). The detection of inapparent infections with Pasteurella pestis in a Microtus californicus population in the San Francisco Bay area. Zoonoses Research 3, 1–13.Google Scholar
Green, C. A., Gordon, D. H. & Lyons, N. F. (1978). Biological species in Praomys (Mastomys) natalensis (Smith), a rodent carrier of Lassa virus and bubonic plague in Africa. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 27, 627–629.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Green, C. A., Keogh, H. J., Gordon, D. H., Pinto, M. & Hartwig, E. K. (1980). The distribution, identification and naming of the Mastomys natalensis species complex in southern Africa (Rodentia: Muridae). Journal of Zoology (London) 192, 17–23.Google Scholar
Hallett, A. F., Moneill, D. & Meyer, K. F. (1970). A serological survey of the small mammals for plague in southern Africa. South African Medical Journal 44, 831–837.Google Scholar
Heisch, R. B., Grainger, W. E. & D'Souza, J. St A. M. (1953). Results of a plague investigation in Kenya. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 47, 503–521.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hubbert, W. T. & Goldenberg, M. I. (1970). Natural resistance to plague: genetic basis in the vole (Microtus californicus). American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 19, 1015–1019.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Isaacson, M., Taylor, P. & Arntzen, L. (1983). Ecology of plague in Africa: response of indiginous wild rodents to experimental plague infection. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 61, 339–344.Google Scholar
Mitchell, J. A. (1927). Plague in South Africa: historical summary (up to June 1926). Publications of the South African Institute for Medical Research 3, 89–108.Google Scholar
Moody, M. D. & Winter, C. C. (1959). Rapid identification of Pasteurella pestis with fluorescent antibody. III. Staining Pasteurella pestis in tissue impression smears. Journal of Infectious Diseases 104, 188–294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pirie, J. H. H. (1927 a). Observations on the comparative susceptibility to plague of various veld rodents and associated animals. Publications of the South African Institute for Medical Research 3, 119–137.Google Scholar
Pirie, J. H. H. (1927 b). Plague on the veld. Publications of the South African Institute for Medical Research 3, 138–162.Google Scholar
Poland, J. D. & Barnes, A. M. (1979). Plague. In C.R.C. Handbook Series in Zoonoses, Section A: Bacterial, Rickettsial and Mycotic Diseases 1 (ed. Steele, J. F.). Florida: C.R.C. Press.Google Scholar
Pollitzer, R. (1954). Plague. World Health Organization Monograph Series No. 22 Geneva.Google Scholar
Quan, S. F. & Kartman, L. (1956). The resistance of Microtus and Peromyscus to infection by Pasteurella pestis. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 50, 104–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quan, S. F. & Kartman, L. (1962). Ecological studies of wild rodent plague in the San Francisco Bay area of California. VIII. Susceptibility of wild rodents to experimental plague infection. Zoonoses Research 1, 121–144.Google ScholarPubMed
Reed, L. J. & Meunch, H. (1938). A simple method of estimating fifty percent endpoints. American Journal of Hygiene 27, 493–497.Google Scholar
Shepherd, A. J., Hummitzsch, D. E., Leman, P. A. & Hartwig, E. K. (1983). Studies on plague in the eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 77, 800–808.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shepherd, A. J. & Leman, P. A. (1983). Plague in South African rodents 1972–81. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 77, 208–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shepherd, A. J. & Leman, P. A. (1985). Bacterial surveillance of South African rodents. South African Journal of Science 81, 302–308.Google Scholar
Shepherd, A. J., Leman, P. A., Hummitzsch, D. E. & Swanepoel, R. (1984). A comparison of serological techniques for plague surveillance. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 78, 771–773.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Surgalla, M. J., Beesley, E. D. & Albizo, J. M. (1970). Practical applications of new laboratory methods for plague investigations. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 42, 993–997.Google ScholarPubMed
Taylor, P., Gordon, D. H. & Isaacson, M. (1981). The status of plague in Zimbabwe. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 75, 165–173.Google Scholar
Williams, J. E., Harrison, D. N. & Cavanaugh, D. C. (1975). Cryptic infection of rats with non-encapsulated variants of Yersinia pestis. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 69, 171–172.Google Scholar
Williams, J. E., Moussa, M. A. & Cavanaugh, D. C. (1979). Experimental plague in the California ground squirrel. Journal of Infectious Diseases 140, 618–621.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed