Assembling a safe and effective toolbox for integrated flea control and plague mitigation: Fipronil experiments with prairie dogs

Plague, a widely distributed zoonotic disease of mammalian hosts and flea vectors, poses a significant risk to ecosystems throughout much of Earth. Conservation biologists use insecticides for flea control and plague mitigation. Here, we evaluate the use of an insecticide grain bait, laced with 0.00...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	PloS one Vol. 17; no. 8; p. e0272419
Main Authors:	Eads, David, Livieri, Travis, Tretten, Tyler, Hughes, John, Kaczor, Nick, Halsell, Emily, Grassel, Shaun, Dobesh, Phillip, Childers, Eddie, Lucas, David, Noble, Lauren, Vasquez, Michele, Grady, Anna Catherine, Biggins, Dean
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	San Francisco Public Library of Science 08-08-2022 Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:	Baits Biology and Life Sciences Colonies Conservation Cynomys Deltamethrin Dust Evaluation Experiments Feces Field tests Fipronil Fleas Insecticide resistance Insecticides Laboratories Medicine and Health Sciences Mitigation People and places Pesticides Plague Prairie dogs Predators Prevention Safety measures Survival Toxicity Vectors Wildlife conservation Wildlife habitats Zoonoses United States United States > US North America Colorado
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Summary:	Plague, a widely distributed zoonotic disease of mammalian hosts and flea vectors, poses a significant risk to ecosystems throughout much of Earth. Conservation biologists use insecticides for flea control and plague mitigation. Here, we evaluate the use of an insecticide grain bait, laced with 0.005% fipronil (FIP) by weight, with black-tailed prairie dogs (BTPDs, Cynomys ludovicianus). We consider safety measures, flea control, BTPD body condition, BTPD survival, efficacy of plague mitigation, and the speed of FIP grain application vs. infusing BTPD burrows with insecticide dusts. We also explore conservation implications for endangered black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes), which are specialized predators of Cynomys. Deltamethrin dust is the most commonly used insecticide for plague mitigation on Cynomys colonies. Fleas on BTPD colonies exhibit the ability to evolve resistance to deltamethrin after repeated annual treatments. Thus, more tools are needed. Accumulating data show orally-delivered FIP is safe and usually effective for flea control with BTPDs, though potential acute toxic effects cannot be ruled out. With continued study and refinement, FIP might be used in rotation with, or even replace deltamethrin, and serve an important role in Cynomys and black-footed ferret conservation. More broadly, our stepwise approach to research on FIP may function as a template or guide for evaluations of insecticides in the context of wildlife conservation.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0272419