Plague is a flea‐vectored disease introduced to North America c. 1900. It is lethal to many American mammal species, causes major die‐offs (epizootics) in some populations, and may be ecologically disruptive even at lower interepizootic (enzootic) levels of transmission. We sought to determine the effects of enzootic plague on survival of Mexican woodrats (Neotoma mexicana) and to test the hypothesis that the causative bacterium Yersinia pestis can be maintained by a highly plague‐susceptible species like these woodrats. We compared apparent survival for woodrats in groups with and without plague management. Woodrat groups were (1) treated for vector control with an insecticide (deltamethrin), (2) vaccinated against plague, (3) treated with both vaccine and vector control, and (4) without plague management treatments. Flea prevalence on woodrats was reduced >90% in response to deltamethrin. Apparent survival during May–September, 2010, was 31.1% for non‐vaccinated adult woodrats living in deltamethrin‐treated nests, compared to 9.6% for woodrats in non‐treated nests. During May–September of 2010 and 2011, vaccinated juvenile woodrat survival was 16.8%, compared to 8.4% for non‐vaccinated juveniles. Peak numbers of woodrats captured were 139 for the first trapping session of 2010 and 76 for the first session of 2011, suggesting a population decline consistent with the relatively low estimated survival rates. Survival results suggest that this highly plague‐susceptible species can locally maintain enzootic plague while encountering substantial rates of mortality.

中文翻译：

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瘟疫减少了科罗拉多州的墨西哥伍德拉特（Neotoma mexicana）的生存

鼠疫是一种引入北美的跳蚤病媒c。1900年。它对许多美国哺乳动物具有致死性，在某些种群中造成重大死亡（致死），甚至在较低的表生（动物）传播水平下也可能造成生态破坏。我们试图确定鼠疫鼠疫对墨西哥wood（Neotoma mexicana）存活的影响，并检验致病菌鼠疫耶尔森氏菌的假说。可以由高度鼠疫易感的物种（例如这些伍德拉特）维持。我们比较了有鼠疫管理和没有鼠疫管理的伍德拉特鼠的明显存活率。将伍德拉特组（1）用杀虫剂（溴氰菊酯）进行媒介控制，（2）接种鼠疫疫苗，（3）同时进行疫苗和媒介控制，以及（4）未进行鼠疫处理。响应溴氰菊酯后，伍德拉特鼠的跳蚤患病率降低了> 90％。在生活经溴氰菊酯处理的巢中，未接种疫苗的成年Woodrat在2010年5月至9月的表观存活率为31.1％，相比之下，未经处理的巢中的Woodrat的表观存活率为9.6％。在2010年5月至9月以及2011年的5月至9月期间，接种疫苗的幼年伍德拉特犬的存活率为16.8％，而未接种疫苗的幼年则为8.4％。在2010年的第一个诱捕期中，捕获的wood鼠的峰值数量为139，而在2011年的第一个诱捕期中，它们的峰值数量为76，这表明种群下降与估计生存率相对较低相符。生存结果表明，这种易受鼠疫感染的物种在局部遭受鼠疫折磨的同时，死亡率却很高。