Evidence for the involvement of an alternate rodent host in the dynamics of introduced plague in prairie dogs.

1. The introduction of plague to North America is a significant threat to colonies of prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus), a species of conservation concern in the Great Plains. Other small rodents are exposed to the causative agent, Yersinia pestis, during or after epizootics; yet, its effect on these rodents is not known, and their role in transmitting and maintaining plague in the absence of prairie dogs remains unclear.

Scavenging by mammalian carnivores on prairie dog colonies: implications for the spread of plague.

Plague causes mass mortality of prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) in shortgrass steppe. Although the pathogen, the bacterium Yersinia pestis, is spread within colonies by flea bites or contact between infected hosts, it is unclear how Y. pestis is transported over long distances between isolated colonies.