ABSTRACT
Gradual dispersion of an abundant flea species Ctenophyllus hirticrus specific to the Pallas's pika (the main plague carrier), is revealed in the Gorno-Altai natural plague focus on the territory, occupied by two populations of this lagomorph. Spreading of Yersinia pestis in these areas took place a short time later the rise of this ectoparasite's abundance. It is supposed that the colonization of these areas by C. hirticrus was one of the factors determined epizooties spreading within the focus and formation of new sites of stable Y. pestis preservation.
Subject(s)
Disease Vectors , Ecosystem , Insect Vectors , Plague/veterinary , Siphonaptera , Yersinia pestis/isolation & purification , Animals , Disease Reservoirs/classification , Disease Reservoirs/microbiology , Disease Reservoirs/parasitology , Disease Reservoirs/statistics & numerical data , Disease Vectors/classification , Insect Vectors/classification , Insect Vectors/microbiology , Lagomorpha/classification , Lagomorpha/microbiology , Plague/prevention & control , Population Control/statistics & numerical data , Population Surveillance , Siberia/epidemiology , Siphonaptera/classification , Siphonaptera/microbiology , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Epizootological role of fleas in the Gorno-Altai natural plague focus (Sailugemsk focus) and numerous data on the flea viability are analyzed and generalized. Information concerning the flea natural infectivity with Yersinia pestis altaica is represented. Ecological peculiarities of some flea species parasitizing the main host, Mongolian pika Ochotona pallasi, and nature of their interrelations with Y. pestis are investigated. It is shown that the flea taxocenosis provides the permanent all year-round circulation of Y. pestis in the Gorno-Altai natural focus. Certain combinations of structural elements of the flea taxocenosis have a dominant significance in determination the circulation process at different phases of the annual epizootic cycle.
