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Lecture on Ecology of Infectious Diseases
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Urbanization results in the fragmentation of native habitats, which dramatically alters the rate of transmission and spread of infectious diseases, scientists are finding.
Case in point: Native grasslands throughout the western United States are becoming the most rapidly urbanized ecosystems in the country. Black-tailed prairie dogs, an imperiled species in western states, are increasingly found in these urban grasslands. In Boulder County, Colo., for example, nearly two-thirds of all prairie dog colonies are within a half-mile of urban development.
Prairie dogs are highly susceptible to plague, a disease that has also afflicted humans for centuries. Plague outbreaks in prairie dog colonies result in the death of nearly all prairie dogs in the colony, yet little is known about the factors that influence where and when plague epidemics will strike. Because of the close proximity of prairie dog colonies to human dwellings, concern is growing that prairie dogs may be a threat to public health.
With funding from the joint National Science Foundation-National Institutes of Health Ecology of Infectious Diseases Program, biologist Sharon Collinge of the University of Colorado at Boulder used records from two decades of plague outbreaks in prairie dogs in Boulder County to evaluate the importance of landscape setting in predicting these outbreaks.
Plague epidemics in prairie dogs, she found, were related to the surrounding landscape in unexpected ways: prairie dog colonies in urban settings were no more or less likely to experience a plague outbreak than such colonies in more rural settings. Significantly, plague outbreaks tended not to occur in colonies that were surrounded by roads, streams or lakes, suggesting that these landscape features may alter the conditions necessary for plague transmission or serve as barriers to movement of the disease.
By identifying the ecological components of plague outbreaks, Collinge will be able to provide wildlife managers with the tools necessary to protect declining populations of prairie dogs and to minimize public exposure to plague.
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Who: |
Sharon Collinge, principal investigator, NSF-NIH Ecology of Infectious Diseases Program |
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What: |
Lecture on plague, prairie dogs and humans |
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When: |
Monday, September 20, 2004 |
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Where: |
National Science Foundation |
For more information and to arrange for a pass to the workshop site, please call: Cheryl Dybas, NSF, (703) 292-7734, cdybas@nsf.gov
Note to journalists: For information on Ecology of Infectious Diseases FY 2004 Awards see: http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/newsroom/pr.cfm?ni=15000000000122
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering, with an annual budget of nearly $5.58 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 40,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,000 new funding awards. The NSF also awards over $200 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
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