[The involvement of some flea species in the epizootic process in the Gorno-Altai natural plague focus: spatial and temporary characteristics].

The relative number of plague pathogen strains isolated from some flea species in different Gorno-Altai natural plague foci substantially varies; this indicator also varies with time. These patterns are due to the difference in the structure of multispecies communities of ectoparasites in these areas and their long-term transformation. As of now, the three species Paradoxopsyllus scorodumovi, Ctenophyllus hirticrus, and Amphalius runatus are widely involved in pathogen transmission in all three foci. These ectoparasites should be referred to as main plague vectors. In each focus, they are joined by other flea species, such as Rhadinopsylla dahurica and Amphipsylla primaris in the Ulandryk focus, Frontopsylla hetera, R. dahurica, Paradoxopsyllus kalabukhovi, and Paramonopsyllus scalodae in the Tarkhatin focus, and P. scalonae and P. kalabukhovi in the Kurai focus, which should be classified as an additional vector.

[Change in the habitat of Yersinia pestis in the Gorno-Altaisk natural focus of plague].

The paper analyzes the change that occurred in the habitat of the causative agent of plague in its Gorno-Altaisk natural focus in 1961 to 2012. Since 1961 when the plague microbe was found to come from the southern slopes of the Saylyugem mountain range, which are located in Mongolia, to the northern slopes situated in Russia, a gradual expansion of the habitat of Yersenia pestis subsp. altaica had commenced in South-Eastern Altai. During the considered period, the area where epizootic manifestations were registered showed an 11-fold increase. In most cases, the spread of the plague pathogen within the focus was natural and occurred in the successive and closely related settlements of Mongolian pikas (Ochotona pallasi). By now, the plague microbe has been widely distributed in three populations of this small animal, which inhabit the territory of South-Eastern Altai.