Sylvatic plague in a Canadian black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus)

Kym S Antonation; Todd K Shury; Trent K Bollinger; Adam Olson; Philip Mabon; Gary Van Domselaar; Cindi R Corbett

doi:10.7589/2013-08-215

Sylvatic plague in a Canadian black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus)

J Wildl Dis. 2014 Jul;50(3):699-702. doi: 10.7589/2013-08-215. Epub 2014 May 7.

Authors

Kym S Antonation¹, Todd K Shury, Trent K Bollinger, Adam Olson, Philip Mabon, Gary Van Domselaar, Cindi R Corbett

Affiliation

¹ 1 Bioforensics Assay Development and Diagnostics, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 1015 Arlington St., Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3E 3R2, Canada.

PMID: 24807359
DOI: 10.7589/2013-08-215

Abstract

In 2010, a black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) was found dead in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada. Postmortem gross and histologic findings indicated bacterial septicemia, likely due to Yersinia pestis, which was confirmed by molecular analysis. This is the first report of Y. pestis in the prairie dog population within Canada.

Publication types

Case Reports
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Fatal Outcome
Plague / epidemiology
Plague / pathology
Plague / veterinary*
Saskatchewan / epidemiology
Sciuridae*
Yersinia pestis / isolation & purification*