Sylvatic plague

[3] Sylvatic plague is normally enzootic, meaning it occurs at regular, predictable rates in populations and specific areas.

Prairie dogs are a keystone species and play a vital role as the primary prey of black-footed ferrets.

Developing methods to control plague is of high concern for preserving ferrets and the conservation of Western prairie and grassland ecosystems.

[1] In the absence of understanding the prairie dog/plague cycles, dusting rodent dens with pesticides to kill fleas is currently the main method of controlling sylvatic plague in the wild, with some interest in using vaccines developing.

[5] An oral live vaccine for prairie dogs was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center, from a recombinant raccoon poxvirus expressing plague antigens.