Plague epidemic trend in a foci with <I>Citellus alaschanicus</I> and prevention strategy

Objective　To analyze the plague epidemic trend in a focus with ICitellus alaschanicus/I and discuss the effective prevention strategies. Methods　A descriptive epidemiological study was conducted to analyze the epidemic features of plague in ICitellus alaschanicus/I foci from 1962 to 2007. Results　Animal plague epidemic was only observed during the period from April to August, suggesting a single-peak curve for the prevalence, with the peak in June. During the past 44 years, large-scale or noticeable animal plague epidemic occurred for three times in company with sporadic cases. Each epidemic lasted a span of 1-2-5-8 year, with the interval of 1-2-6 year. Conclusion　The results showed that animal plague would occur intermittently over a long period of time in the foci. However, surveillance, deratization, depulization are the effective strategies for the prevention and control of human plague in this plague foci.