Nat ional Wi ld l i fe Disease Program

dorabies, plague, tularemia, bovine tuberculosis, West Nile virus, chronic wasting disease, Johne's disease, and Lyme dis-ease. WDBs work closely with other federal agencies as well as state health, agriculture, and wildlife agencies to implement these surveillance projects.

This plague update is the first issue that the NWDP will periodi-cally publish to provide updates on our sylvatic plague surveil-lance project. This work is a collaborative effort with the Cen-ters for Disease Control, and state and tribal public health, wildlife, and agriculture agen-cies. It’s purpose is to increase our knowledge of the distribu-tion of the disease, and its rela-tionship to other biotic and abiotic factors. This knowledge will improve our ability to predict plague epizootics and assist health professionals in prevent-ing and treating domestic ani-mals and people.

T H E NWDP—W H O A R E WE ? By Dr. Thomas DeLiberto I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

PLAGUE SURVEILLANCE UPDATE

The NWDP—Who Are We?

1

Why Conduct Plague Sero-

1

Plague Sampling Sites:

2

Plague Serology Results by State:

3

Plague Sero-Surveillance Results:

4

Interested in Addi-tional Plague Sur-veillance Data for Your State?

4

The USDA/APHIS Wildlife Ser-vices National Wildlife Disease Program (NWDP) is based on a strategic premise that safeguard-ing the health of humans, ani-mals, plants and ecosystems makes safe agricultural trade possible and reduces losses to agricultural and natural re-sources. Active surveillance al-lows for a better understanding of select wildlife diseases and enhances the ability to respond to disease outbreaks in wildlife and domestic animals, as well as to prevent disease threats to humans.

The NWDP facilitates and assists state, federal, tribal and interna-tional agencies, as well as pri-vate cooperators, with local dis-ease monitoring and nationally-coordinated wildlife surveillance systems. These programs focus on sample collection, information exchange, laboratory support and monitoring of diseases of concern to national biosecurity.

The program has 44 Wildlife Disease Biologist (WDBs) lo-cated across the country. WDBs conduct surveillance activities in all 50 states and act as Wildlife

Services' first responders in cases of emergency, as part of NWDP's Surveillance and Emer-gency Response System (SERS). The WDBs participate in wildlife disease surveillance and control activities that are of particular interest and concern in their designated regions. These dis-eases include highly-pathogenic avian influenza, classical swine fever, swine brucellosis, pseu-

Volume 1, Issue 1

October 2010

The original artwork on this page was created by the National Wildlife Disease Program’s Erika Kampe and Sarah Goff

Sampling a coyote for plague

Plague has been identified as one of the most pathogenic bacterial diseases of humans, wildlife and domestic animals. This infectious disease is caused by the bacte-rium Yersinia pestis. Fleas play the major role in transmitting plague but direct contact be-tween infected mammals can also spread the disease. In many cases, domestic animals such as

W H Y C O N D U C T P L A G U E S E R O - S U R V E I L L A N C E ? By Dr. Thomas Gidlewski

cats can encounter the agent in the wild and bring it home. Plague is maintained by rodent hosts and their fleas but how it is maintained in nature between clinical outbreaks is not fully understood. Mammals, such as carnivores and scavengers that feed on susceptible rodent spe-cies are at risk. Species suscep-

(Continued on page 2) Nobuto samples

Such exposure can result in the development of antibodies, which indicates that plague is likely present within the coy-ote’s home range.

Serology results can be shared with local human and animal health officials. Once alerted to the presence of the disease in their area, health personnel can be on the look-out for patients exhibiting plague's flu-like symptoms (fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, etc.), which are often non-specific and resem-ble other common diseases. If identified quickly, though, plague infections can be effec-tively treated with antibiotic drugs. A delay in the diagnosis, even for a short period, can make treatment much more difficult or impossible resulting in death.

P lague Survei l lance Update Vo l .1 Iss .1 October 2010 Page 2 P lague Survei l lance Update Vo l .1 Iss .1 October 2010 Page 2

tibility to plague appear to be highly variable as demon-strated by the lethal effect on black –footed ferrets and rela-tive resistance of coyotes.

In general, members of the cat family, such as bobcats, moun-tain lions and domestic cats are considered particularly susceptible to plague while the dogs and wild canids, including coyotes and wolves, tend to be fairly resistant to plague. Be-cause cats are susceptible to plague and may develop the highly-contagious form of the disease (pneumonic plague), they can represent a health threat to people who come in contact with them (e.g.,, sports-men, wildlife personnel & pet owners). Generally, canids do

(Why conduct plague sero-surveillance? ~ Continued from page 1)

not develop clinical disease following exposure to plague but they do readily develop

antibodies. Testing blood of coyotes and other wildlife for the presence of these antibod-ies is a convenient and effi-cient method of monitoring plague activity in an area.

NWDP biologists work closely with other Wildlife Services personnel to collect samples,

primarily from coyotes, taken during wildlife damage man-agement activities. Coyotes are often exposed to plague be-cause of their close association with infected rodents and fleas.

Xenopsilla cheopis—Oriental Rat Flea. Photo from CDC website

P L A G U E SA M P L I N G S I T E S : 2005-2009 Map by Mark Lutman

Plague Survei l lance Update Vo l .1 Iss .1 October 2010 Page 3 P lague Survei l lance Update Vo l .1 Iss .1 October 2010 Page 3

P L A G U E S E R O L O G Y R E S U L T S B Y S T A T E : 2 0 0 5 - 2 0 0 9

State All Species Negative

All Species Positive

All Species % Positive

AZ 1448 30 2.0 %

CA 27 0 0 0 %

CO 1331 199 13.0 %

ID 886 33 3.6 %

IN 10 0 0 .0 %

KS 169 0 0 .0 %

ME 8 0 0.0 %

MI 45 0 0.0 %

MN 9 0 0.0%

MO 469 0 0.0%

MT 3532 419 10.6 %

ND 557 3 0.5 %

NE 353 10 2.8 %

NJ 3 0 0.0 %

NM 2258 705 23.8 %

NV 1455 102 6.6 %

NY 2 0 0.0 %

OK 2079 18 0.9 %

OR 516 16 3.0 %

SD 469 53 10.2 %

TX 1134 70 5.8 %

UT 761 33 4.2 %

VA 15 0 0.0 %

WA 360 0 0.0 %

WY 664 173 20.7 %

Averages 714 72 4.9 %

AK 2 0 0.0 %

Totals 18562 1864 n/a

Coyotes Negative

2

979

27

1226

401

6

105

4

45

n/a

8

3481

409

302

3

2166

1064

n/a

1083

432

456

532

138

n/a

33

660

590

13562

Coyotes Positive

0

28

0

193

15

0

0

0

0

n/a

0

418

0

9

0

688

96

n/a

18

11

52

68

22

n/a

0

170

78

1788

Coyotes % Positive

0.0 %

2.8 %

0 0 %

13.6 %

3.6 %

0.0 %

0.0 %

0.0 %

0.0 %

n/a

0.0 %

10.7 %

0.0 %

2.9 %

0.0 %

24.1 %

8.3 %

n/a

1.6 %

2.5 %

10.2 %

11.3 %

13.8 %

n/a

0.0 %

20.5 %

5.7 %

n/a

Plague Survei l lance Update Vo l .1 Iss .1 October 2010 Page 4

P L A G U E S E R O - S U R V E I L L A N C E R E S U L T S : 2 0 0 5 - 2 0 0 9 Map by Mark Lutman—NWDP

Nat ional Wi ld l i fe D isease Program http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/nwdp/

Plag

ue L

ine

For more information on the Wildlife Services Wildlife Disease Program in your state, please call 866-4 USDA WS, or contact the following staff: Tom DeLiberto - National Coordinator 970.266.6088 Tom Gidlewski – Assistant Coordinator and Plague Project Manager 970.266.6350

Brandon Schmit – Wildlife Disease Biologist, 970.266.6079 We will be happy to put you in touch with the wildlife dis-ease biologist in your state. Each wildlife disease biolo-gist works closely with state, county, city and tribal entities to improve disease surveillance with the ultimate goal of im-proving and safeguarding local wildlife, livestock, and human health.

I N T E R E S T E D I N A D D I T I O N A L P L A G U E S U R V E I L L A N C E D A T A F O R Y O U R S T A T E ?

For All-Hazard Emergencies

Involving Wildlife Call: 970.266.6363

or toll-free 1.877.303.6363

County

National Wildlife Disease Program The NWDP—Who Are We?Inside this issue:Volume 1, Issue 1 Why Conduct Plague Sero-Surveillance?Plague Surveillance UpdateVol.1 Iss.1 October 2010Page #Plague Surveillance UpdateVol.1 Iss.1 October 2010Page #Plague Sampling Sites: 2005-2009Plague Surveillance UpdateVol.1 Iss.1 October 2010Page #Plague Surveillance UpdateVol.1 Iss.1 October 2010Page #Plague Serology Results by state: 2005-2009Plague Surveillance UpdateVol.1 Iss.1 October 2010Page #Plague Sero-Surveillance Results: 2005-2009National Wildlife Disease ProgramInterested in additional plague surveillance data for your state?

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