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Flea Diversity and Infestation Prevalence on Rodents in a Plague-Endemic Region of Uganda

In Uganda, the West Nile region is the primary epidemiologic focus for plague. The aims of this study were to 1) describe flea–host associations within a plague-endemic region of Uganda, 2) compare flea loads between villages with or without a history of reported human plague cases and between sampling periods, and 3) determine vector loads on small mammal hosts in domestic, peridomestic, and sylvatic settings. We report that the roof rat, Rattus rattus, is the most common rodent collected in human dwellings in each of the 10 villages within the two districts sampled. These rats were commonly infested with efficient Y. pestis vectors, Xenopsylla cheopis and X. brasiliensis in Arua and Nebbi districts, respectively. In peridomestic and sylvatic areas in both districts, the Nile rat, Arvicanthus niloticus, was the most abundant rodent and hosted the highest diversity of flea species. When significant temporal differences in flea loads were detected, they were typically lower during the dry month of January. We did not detect any significant differences in small mammal abundance or flea loads between villages with our without a history of human plague, indicating that conditions during inter-epizootic periods are similar between these areas. Future studies are needed to determine whether flea abundance or species composition changes during epizootics when humans are most at risk of exposure.

Received February 25, 2009. Accepted for publication July 16, 2009.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank J. E. Staples, I. Weber, T. Apangu, P. S. Mead, and K. S. Griffith for compiling epidemiologic data for the area, L. Eisen for comments on the manuscript, and P. Collins, A. Ogen, and N. Owor for logistical support. A.O.O., co-author, has since died and we especially wish to acknowledge his lifetime achievements and contributions to the study and control of plague in Uganda; without him, this study would not have taken place.

^* Address correspondence to Rebecca J. Eisen, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, CCID/CDC, 3150 Rampart Road, Fort Collins, CO 80522. E-mail: dyn2{at}cdc.gov

Authors’ addresses: Gerald Amatre, Nackson Babi, and Linda A. Atiku, Uganda Virus Research Institute, PO Box 49, Entebbe, Uganda. Russell E. Enscore, Kenneth L. Gage, and Rebecca J. Eisen, Bacterial Diseases Branch, Division of Vector Borne Infectious Diseases, National Center for Zoonotic, Enteric and Vector-Borne Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3150 Rampart Road, Fort Collins, CO. Anne Akol, Department of Zoology, Makerere University, PO Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda. Asaph Ogen-Odoi, deceased, formerly affiliated with UVRI.