Unblocked fleas can transmit Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague, shortly (≤ 4
d) after taking an infectious bloodmeal. Investigators have measured so-called early-phase …

Plague, a flea-borne zoonotic disease, is characterized by rapidly spreading epizootics.
Rate of infectious spread is thought to be related to daily biting rate of the vector, the …

Yersinia pestis, the etiological agent of plague, is transmitted by multiple flea species.
Previous studies have reported wide variability in transmission efficiency among competent …

Sharp declines in human and animal cases of plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia
pestis (Yersin), have been observed when outbreaks coincide with hot weather. Failure of …

We used a quantitative competitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR)(QC-PCR) to determine
bacterial loads in 669 fleas collected in areas of confirmed and suspected plague epizootics …

Background Transmission of Yersinia pestis by flea bite can occur by two mechanisms. After
taking a blood meal from a bacteremic mammal, fleas have the potential to transmit the very …

For almost a century, the oriental rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopi s (Rothschild)(Siphonaptera:
Pulicidae), was thought to be the most efficient vector of the plague bacterium Yersinia …

Yersinia pestis can be transmitted by fleas during the first week after an infectious blood
meal, termed early-phase or mass transmission, and again after Y. pestis forms a cohesive …

Prairie dogs in the western United States experience periodic epizootics of plague, caused
by the flea-borne bacterial pathogen Yersinia pestis. An early study indicated that Oropsylla …

Background Traditionally, efficient flea-borne transmission of Yersinia pestis, the causative
agent of plague, was thought to be dependent on a process referred to as blockage in which …