title: A Taxonomic Update of Small Mammal Plague Reservoirs in South America.
abstract: Plague is a disease of epidemic potential that may emerge with discontinuous outbreaks. In South America, 50 wild rodent species have been identified as plague reservoirs, in addition to one lagomorph and two marsupials. To review the nomenclature of plague reservoirs, we examined specimens collected in plague foci, carried out new surveys in Brazilian plague regions, and re-evaluated the nomenclature of South American reservoirs on the basis of the current literature. Five of the 15 species involved with plague in Argentina, three of 10 species involved with plague in Bolivia, three of the seven species involved with plague in Peru, five of the nine species involved with plague in Ecuador, and six of the nine species involved with plague in Brazil have undergone taxonomic changes. In the last 20 years, plague cases were recorded in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru. These four countries have a high rodent species richness in plague foci, a fact that may be decisive for the maintenance of plague in the wild.
authors.affiliation: 1 Laboratório de Biologia e Parasitologia de Mamíferos Silvestres Reservatórios, IOC-Fiocruz , Rio de Janeiro/RJ, Brazil .|2 Genetics Division, INCA , Rio de Janeiro/RJ, Brazil .
authors.forename: Cibele R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Bonvicino
authors.affiliation: 3 Departamento de Vertebrados, Museu Nacional-UFRJ , Rio de Janeiro/RJ, Brazil .
authors.forename: João A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: 4 Systematics and Ecology Department, CCEN-UFPB , João Pessoa/PB, Brazil .
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cordeiro-Estrela
authors.affiliation: 1 Laboratório de Biologia e Parasitologia de Mamíferos Silvestres Reservatórios, IOC-Fiocruz , Rio de Janeiro/RJ, Brazil .
authors.forename: Paulo S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: D'andrea
authors.affiliation: 5 Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, FIOCRUZ/PE , Recife/PE, Brazil .
authors.forename: Alzira M P
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Almeida
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000145:classification* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008394:Marsupialia / Q000145:classification* / Q000382:microbiology; D010930:Plague / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D012377:Rodentia / Q000145:classification* / Q000382:microbiology; D013020:South America / Q000453:epidemiology; D015010:Yersinia pestis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015047:Zoonoses
keywords: Host; Marsupial; Plague; Rodent; Taxonomy