Cargando…

Oral Sylvatic Plague Vaccine Does Not Adequately Protect Prairie Dogs (Cynomys spp.) for Endangered Black-Footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) Conservation

The plague bacterium Yersinia pestis is lethal to endangered black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes, BFF) and the prairie dogs (Cynomys spp., PD) on which they depend for habitat and prey. We assessed the effectiveness of an oral sylvatic plague vaccine delivered in baits to black-tailed PD (Cynomys...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Matchett, Marc R., Stanley, Thomas R., Mccollister, Matthew F., Eads, David A., Boulerice, Jesse T., Biggins, Dean E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8742283/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34757815
http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/vbz.2021.0049
_version_ 1784629680307961856
author Matchett, Marc R.
Stanley, Thomas R.
Mccollister, Matthew F.
Eads, David A.
Boulerice, Jesse T.
Biggins, Dean E.
author_facet Matchett, Marc R.
Stanley, Thomas R.
Mccollister, Matthew F.
Eads, David A.
Boulerice, Jesse T.
Biggins, Dean E.
author_sort Matchett, Marc R.
collection PubMed
description The plague bacterium Yersinia pestis is lethal to endangered black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes, BFF) and the prairie dogs (Cynomys spp., PD) on which they depend for habitat and prey. We assessed the effectiveness of an oral sylvatic plague vaccine delivered in baits to black-tailed PD (Cynomys ludovicianus, BTPD) from 2013 to 2017 on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge (CMR) in northcentral Montana. We permanently marked BTPD on four paired vaccine (N = 1,349 individuals) and placebo plots (N = 926; 7,027 total captures). We analyzed capture–recapture data under a Cormack–Jolly–Seber model to estimate annual apparent survival. Overall, survival averaged 0.05 lower on vaccine plots than on paired placebo plots. Immediately before noticeable die-offs and detecting plague on pairs CMR1 and CMR2, 89% of BTPD sampled on vaccine plots had consumed at least one bait and the immune systems of 40% were likely boosted by consuming baits over multiple years. Survival to the following year was 0.16 and 0.05 on the vaccine plots and 0.19 and 0.06 on the placebo plots for pairs CMR1 and CMR2, respectively. These rates were markedly lower than 0.63, the overall average estimate on those same plots during the previous 3 years. PD populations subjected to such large die-offs would not be expected to sustain a BFF population. An overriding limitation to achieving sufficient protection rests with vaccine delivery constraints. Late summer/fall bait distribution results in the highest bait uptake rates. However, the PD birth pulse each spring can double the size of populations in most years, greatly reducing the proportion of vaccinates in populations and diminishing potential herd immunity benefits. In addition to nonvaccinated juveniles and PD that do not consume bait, incomplete vaccine protection and time required for immunity to develop leaves a large majority of PD populations vulnerable to plague for 6–7 months or more each year.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8742283
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-87422832022-01-10 Oral Sylvatic Plague Vaccine Does Not Adequately Protect Prairie Dogs (Cynomys spp.) for Endangered Black-Footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) Conservation Matchett, Marc R. Stanley, Thomas R. Mccollister, Matthew F. Eads, David A. Boulerice, Jesse T. Biggins, Dean E. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis Original Articles The plague bacterium Yersinia pestis is lethal to endangered black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes, BFF) and the prairie dogs (Cynomys spp., PD) on which they depend for habitat and prey. We assessed the effectiveness of an oral sylvatic plague vaccine delivered in baits to black-tailed PD (Cynomys ludovicianus, BTPD) from 2013 to 2017 on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge (CMR) in northcentral Montana. We permanently marked BTPD on four paired vaccine (N = 1,349 individuals) and placebo plots (N = 926; 7,027 total captures). We analyzed capture–recapture data under a Cormack–Jolly–Seber model to estimate annual apparent survival. Overall, survival averaged 0.05 lower on vaccine plots than on paired placebo plots. Immediately before noticeable die-offs and detecting plague on pairs CMR1 and CMR2, 89% of BTPD sampled on vaccine plots had consumed at least one bait and the immune systems of 40% were likely boosted by consuming baits over multiple years. Survival to the following year was 0.16 and 0.05 on the vaccine plots and 0.19 and 0.06 on the placebo plots for pairs CMR1 and CMR2, respectively. These rates were markedly lower than 0.63, the overall average estimate on those same plots during the previous 3 years. PD populations subjected to such large die-offs would not be expected to sustain a BFF population. An overriding limitation to achieving sufficient protection rests with vaccine delivery constraints. Late summer/fall bait distribution results in the highest bait uptake rates. However, the PD birth pulse each spring can double the size of populations in most years, greatly reducing the proportion of vaccinates in populations and diminishing potential herd immunity benefits. In addition to nonvaccinated juveniles and PD that do not consume bait, incomplete vaccine protection and time required for immunity to develop leaves a large majority of PD populations vulnerable to plague for 6–7 months or more each year. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2021-12-01 2021-12-16 /pmc/articles/PMC8742283/ /pubmed/34757815 http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/vbz.2021.0049 Text en © Marc R. Matchett et al. 2021; Published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License [CC-BY-NC] (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) ) which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are cited.
spellingShingle Original Articles
Matchett, Marc R.
Stanley, Thomas R.
Mccollister, Matthew F.
Eads, David A.
Boulerice, Jesse T.
Biggins, Dean E.
Oral Sylvatic Plague Vaccine Does Not Adequately Protect Prairie Dogs (Cynomys spp.) for Endangered Black-Footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) Conservation
title Oral Sylvatic Plague Vaccine Does Not Adequately Protect Prairie Dogs (Cynomys spp.) for Endangered Black-Footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) Conservation
title_full Oral Sylvatic Plague Vaccine Does Not Adequately Protect Prairie Dogs (Cynomys spp.) for Endangered Black-Footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) Conservation
title_fullStr Oral Sylvatic Plague Vaccine Does Not Adequately Protect Prairie Dogs (Cynomys spp.) for Endangered Black-Footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) Conservation
title_full_unstemmed Oral Sylvatic Plague Vaccine Does Not Adequately Protect Prairie Dogs (Cynomys spp.) for Endangered Black-Footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) Conservation
title_short Oral Sylvatic Plague Vaccine Does Not Adequately Protect Prairie Dogs (Cynomys spp.) for Endangered Black-Footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes) Conservation
title_sort oral sylvatic plague vaccine does not adequately protect prairie dogs (cynomys spp.) for endangered black-footed ferret (mustela nigripes) conservation
topic Original Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8742283/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34757815
http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/vbz.2021.0049
work_keys_str_mv AT matchettmarcr oralsylvaticplaguevaccinedoesnotadequatelyprotectprairiedogscynomyssppforendangeredblackfootedferretmustelanigripesconservation
AT stanleythomasr oralsylvaticplaguevaccinedoesnotadequatelyprotectprairiedogscynomyssppforendangeredblackfootedferretmustelanigripesconservation
AT mccollistermatthewf oralsylvaticplaguevaccinedoesnotadequatelyprotectprairiedogscynomyssppforendangeredblackfootedferretmustelanigripesconservation
AT eadsdavida oralsylvaticplaguevaccinedoesnotadequatelyprotectprairiedogscynomyssppforendangeredblackfootedferretmustelanigripesconservation
AT boulericejesset oralsylvaticplaguevaccinedoesnotadequatelyprotectprairiedogscynomyssppforendangeredblackfootedferretmustelanigripesconservation
AT bigginsdeane oralsylvaticplaguevaccinedoesnotadequatelyprotectprairiedogscynomyssppforendangeredblackfootedferretmustelanigripesconservation