Plague, pumas and potential zoonotic exposure in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

We tested for plague ( Yersinia pestis ) in a puma population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) over 9 years, overlapping a case when a boy in the area became infected with plague. Antibodies to Y. pestis were detected in 8 of 17 (47%) pumas tested by complement-enzyme-linked immunosorbent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental conservation 2020-06, Vol.47 (2), p.75-78
Main Authors: Elbroch, L Mark, Vickers, T Winston, Quigley, Howard B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Animals
Antibodies
Disease
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
Epidemics
Exposure
Food chains
Immunoglobulins
Laboratories
Lymphatic system
Mortality
Necropsy
Plague
Prairie dogs
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Summary:We tested for plague ( Yersinia pestis ) in a puma population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) over 9 years, overlapping a case when a boy in the area became infected with plague. Antibodies to Y. pestis were detected in 8 of 17 (47%) pumas tested by complement-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the organism itself was detected in 4 of 11 (36%) pumas tested after necropsy. Neither puma sex nor age was significantly associated with Y. pestis exposure or mortality, although our sample size was small. The overall prevalence of exposure we recorded was similar to that found along the western slope of Colorado, which is adjacent to the Four Corners region, a known plague hotspot in the USA. This suggests that: (1) Y. pestis may be present at higher levels in the GYE than previously assumed; (2) plague is a significant source of mortality for local pumas (6.6% of sub-adult and adult mortality); and (3) pumas may be a useful sentinel for potential risk of plague exposure to humans throughout the West. We would also emphasize that hunters and others handling pumas in this region should be made aware of the possibility of exposure.
ISSN:0376-8929
1469-4387
DOI:10.1017/S0376892920000065