Objective To investigate the effects of precipitation on the plague vectors and plague prevalence situation of Spermophilus undulatus at the northern Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang).Methods The effects of precipitation on S. undulatus-associated plague vectors and plague prevalence, as well as the relationship between vectors and animal plague were analyzed through Spearman correlation analysis and generalized additive modeling.Results The current annual precipitation, the last spring-summer-autumn’ precipitation, and the last autumn-winter-spring’ precipitation were negatively correlated with the flea index and plague seroprevalence rate of S. undulatus. Among them, the correlations between the last annual precipitation and flea index, the last spring-summer-autumn’s precipitation and flea index were statistically significant (all P<0.05), and the correlations between the current and the last annual precipitation, the current spring-summer-autumn’, the current and the last autumn-winter-spring’ precipitation and the positive rate of F1 antibody to Yesinia pestis were all statistically significant (all P<0.05). The flea index and flea infestation rate were positively correlated with the plague seroprevalence rate (rs>0). The last spring-summer-autumn’ precipitation had a nonlinear relationship with the flea index. Nonlinear relationships were also observed between the autumn-winter-spring’ precipitation of the same year and the last year and plague seroprevalence rate. The flea index of the same year and that of the last year were linearly positively correlated with the plague seroprevalence rate.Conclusions The effects of precipitation on the flea index and plague prevalence of S. undulatus are complex. Increased precipitation can inhibit the growth of body flea populations, first promoting and then inhibiting plague epizootics, at a certain lag.
SUN Jing, WEI Wen-yu, ZHAN Shang, LI Fang, ZHAO Guo-yu, WANG Qi-guo, LUO Tao, WU Hai-yan, ZHANG Yu-jiang
. Effects of precipitation on epizootic plague among Spermophilus undulatus at the northern Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China[J]. Chinese Journal of Vector Biology and Control, 2024
, 35(3)
: 323
-328
.
DOI: 10.11853/j.issn.1003.8280.2024.03.012
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