Digital Commons Network^™

Workshopping A Workshop: Collaborative Design In Educational Development, Eleanor V. H. Vandegrift, Amy B. Mulnix, Jennifer R. Yates, S. Raj Chaudhury

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Working remotely and collaboratively, our interdisciplinary team created an educational development workshop, Thinking Skills for the 21st Century: Teaching for Transfer, in which participants not only experience, apply, and reflect on teaching across educational settings but also connect this work to principles that have been demonstrated by learning science to support the transfer of knowledge. We used backward design to develop the workshop and evidence-based pedagogies in its implementation. We facilitated the workshop at two different national meetings for distinct audiences and also as part of an on-campus faculty development program. Here, we report on the workshop development and revision, …

The Six-Legged Subject: A Survey Of Secondary Science Teachers’ Incorporation Of Insects Into U.S. Life Science Instruction, Erin Ingram, Douglas Golick

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

To improve students’ understanding and appreciation of insects, entomology education efforts have supported insect incorporation in formal education settings. While several studies have explored student ideas about insects and the incorporation of insects in elementary and middle school classrooms, the topic of how and why insects are incorporated in secondary science classrooms remains relatively unexplored. Using survey research methods, this study addresses the gap in the literature by (1) describing in-service secondary science teachers’ incorporation of insects in science classrooms; (2) identifying factors that support or deter insect incorporation and (3) identifying teachers’ preferred resources to support future entomology education …

Loss Of Α-Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (Αcgrp) Reduces Otolith Activation Timing Dynamics And Impairs Balance, Sherri M. Jones, Sarath Vijayakumar, Samantha A. Dow, Joseph C. Holt, Paivi M. Jordan, Anne E. Luebke

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a neuroactive peptide that is thought to play a role at efferent synapses in hair cell organs including the cochlea, lateral line, and semicircular canal. The deletion of CGRP in transgenic mice is associated with a significant reduction in suprathreshold cochlear nerve activity and vestibulo– ocular reflex (VOR) gain efficacy when compared to littermate controls. Here we asked whether the loss of CGRP also influences otolithic end organ function and contributes to balance impairments. Immunostaining for CGRP was absent in the otolithic end organs of aCGRP null (-/-) mice while choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) immunolabeling appeared …

Tetracycline And Sulfonamide Antibiotic Resistance Genes In Soils From Nebraska Organic Farming Operations, Marylynn Cadena, Lisa M. Durso, Daniel N. Miller, Heidi M. Waldrip, B. L. Castleberry, Rhae A. Drijber, Charles S. Wortmann

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

There is widespread agreement that agricultural antibiotic resistance should be reduced, however, it is unclear from the available literature what an appropriate target for reduction would be. Organic farms provide a unique opportunity to disentangle questions of agricultural antibiotic drug use from questions of antibiotic resistance in the soil. In this study, soil was collected from 12 certified organic farms in Nebraska, evaluated for the presence of tetracycline and sulfonamide resistance genes (n = 15 targets), and correlated to soil physical, chemical, and biological parameters. Tetracycline and sulfonamide antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were found in soils from all 12 …

Sivcpz Closely Related To The Ancestral Hiv-1 Is Less Or Non-Pathogenic To Humans In A Hu-Blt Mouse Model, Zhe Yuan, Guobin Kang, Lance Daharsh, Wenjin Fan, Qingsheng Li

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

The HIV-1 pandemic is a consequence of the cross-species transmission of simian immunodeficiency virus in wild chimpanzees (SIVcpz) to humans. Our previous study demonstrated SIVcpz strains that are closely related to the ancestral viruses of HIV-1 groups M (SIVcpzMB897) and N (SIVcpzEK505) and two SIVcpz lineages that are not associated with any known HIV-1 infections in humans (SIVcpzMT145 and SIVcpzBF1167), all can readily infect and robustly replicate in the humanized-BLT mouse model of humans. However, the comparative pathogenicity of different SIVcpz strains remains unknown. Herein, we compared the pathogenicity of the above four SIVcpz strains with HIV-1 using humanized-BLT mice. …

Identification Of Unequally Represented Founder Viruses Among Tissues In Very Early Siv Rectal Transmission, Jian Chen, Yanqin Ren, Lance Daharsh, Lu Liu, Guobin Kang, Qingsheng Li, Qiang Wei, Yanmin Wu, Jianqing Xu

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Characterizing the transmitted/founder (T/F) viruses of multi-variant SIV infection may shed new light on the understanding of mucosal transmission.We intrarectally inoculated six Chinese rhesus macaques with a single high dose of SIVmac251 (3.1 × 10⁴ TCID₅₀) and obtained 985 full-length env sequences from multiple tissues at 6 and 10 days post-infection by single genome amplification (SGA). All 6 monkeys were infected with a range of 2 to 8 T/F viruses and the dominant variants from the inoculum were still dominant in different tissues from each monkey. Interestingly, our data showed that a cluster of rare T/F viruses …

Discovery Of A Non-Nucleoside Rna Polymerase Inhibitor For Blocking Zika Virus Replication Through In Silico Screening, Aryamav Pattnaik, Nicholas Palermo, Bikash R. Sahoo, Zhe Yuan, Duoyi Hu, Arun S. Annamalai, Hiep L. X. Vu, Ignacio Correas, Pavan Kumar Prathipati, Christopher J. Destache, Qingsheng Li, Fernando A. Osorio, Asit K. Pattnaik, Shi-Hua Xiang

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Zika virus (ZIKV), an emerging arbovirus, has become a major human health concern globally due to its association with congenital abnormalities and neurological diseases. Licensed vaccines or antivirals against ZIKV are currently unavailable. Here, by employing a structure-based approach targeting the ZIKV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), we conducted in silico screening of a library of 100,000 small molecules and tested the top ten lead compounds for their ability to inhibit the virus replication in cell-based in vitro assays. One compound, 3-chloro-N-[({4-[4-(2-thienylcarbonyl)-1-piperazinyl]phenyl}amino)carbonothioyl]-1-benzothiophene-2-carboxamide (TPB), potently inhibited ZIKV replication at submicromolar concentrations. Molecular docking analysis suggests that …

Including Phenotypic Causal Networks In Genome-Wide Association Studies Using Mixed Effects Structural Equation Models, Mehdi Momen, Ahmad Ayatollahi Mehrgardi, Mahmoud Amiri Roudbar, Andreas Kranis, Renan Mercuri Pinto, Bruno D. Valente, Gota Morota, Guilherme J.M. Rosa, Daniel Gianola

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Background: Phenotypic networks describing putative causal relationship among multiple phenotypes can be used to infer single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) effects in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). In GWAS with multiple phenotypes, reconstructing underlying causal structures among traits and SNPs using a single statistical framework is essential for understanding the entirety of genotype-phenotype maps. A structural equation model (SEM) can be used for such purpose.

Methods: We applied SEM to GWAS (SEM-GWAS) in chickens, taking into account putative causal relationships among body weight (BW), breast meat (BW), hen-house production (HHP), and SNPs. We assessed the performance of SEM-GWAS by comparing the model results …

Physiological And Behavioural Response Of Two Dairy Cows’ Genotypes During Summertime In The Central Region Of Chile, Rodrigo A. Arias, Camila Herrera, Rafael Larraín, Fernando González, Terry L. Mader, Alejandro Velásquez

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Heat stress has been recognized as a serious problem in dairy farms. The study goal was to assess the effects of climatic conditions on physiological and behavioral responses of dairy cows in Central Chile. Data of tympanic temperature (TT), panting score, respiration rate (RR), and shade utilization of cows from two genotypes, Holstein (H) and Holstein x Montbeliarde (HM), were collected twice per day (AM/PM) during three periods of the summer season in Central Chile. Moreover, three thermal comfort indices: Comprehensive climate index (CCI), temperature humidity-index (THI), and adjusted THI were estimated using meteorological data. The hour of each day …

Big Data Analytics And Precision Animal Agriculture Symposium: Machine Learning And Data Mining Advance Predictive Big Data Analysis In Precision Animal Agriculture, Gota Morota, Ricardo V. Ventura, Fabyano F. Silva, Masanori Koyama, Samodha C. Fernando

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Precision animal agriculture is poised to rise to prominence in the livestock enterprise in the domains of management, production, welfare, sustainability, health surveillance, and environmental footprint. Considerable progress has been made in the use of tools to routinely monitor and collect information from animals and farms in a less laborious manner than before. These efforts have enabled the animal sciences to embark on information technology-driven discoveries to improve animal agriculture. However, the growing amount and complexity of data generated by fully automated, high-throughput data recording or phenotyping platforms, including digital images, sensor and sound data, unmanned systems, and information obtained …

The Influence Of Fat And Hemicellulose On Methane Production And Energy Utilization In Lactating Jersey Cattle, O. R. Drehmel, T. M. Brown-Brandl, J. V. Judy, S. C. Fernando, P. S. Miller, K. E. Hales, Paul J. Kononoff

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Feeding fat to lactating dairy cows may reduce methane production. Relative to cellulose, fermentation of hemicellulose is believed to result in less methane; however, these factors have not been studied simultaneously. Eight multiparous, lactating Jersey cows averaging (±SD) 98 ± 30.8 d in milk and body weight of 439.3 ± 56.7 kg were used in a twice-replicated 4 × 4 Latin square to determine the effects of fat and hemicellulose on energy utilization and methane production using a headbox-type indirect calorimetry method. To manipulate the concentration of fat, porcine tallow was included at either 0 or 2% of the diet …

Predictive Ability Of Genome-Assisted Statistical Models Under Various Forms Of Gene Action, Mehdi Momen, Ahmad Ayatollahi Mehrgardi, Ayyub Sheikhi, Andreas Kranis, Llibertat Tussell, Gota Morota, Guilherme J. M. Rosa, Daniel Gianola

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Recent work has suggested that the performance of prediction models for complex traits may depend on the architecture of the target traits. Here we compared several prediction models with respect to their ability of predicting phenotypes under various statistical architectures of gene action: (1) purely additive, (2) additive and dominance, (3) additive, dominance, and two-locus epistasis, and (4) purely epistatic settings. Simulation and a real chicken dataset were used. Fourteen prediction models were compared: BayesA, BayesB, BayesC, Bayesian LASSO, Bayesian ridge regression, elastic net, genomic best linear unbiased prediction, a Gaussian process, LASSO, random forests, reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces regression, …

Linkage Disequilibrium In Brazilian Santa Inês Breed, Ovis Aries, Amanda Botelho Alvarenga, Gregori Alberto Rovadoscki, Juliana Petrini, Luiz Lehmann Coutinho, Gota Morota, Matthew L. Spangler, Luis Fernando Batista Pinto, Gleidson Giordano Pinto Carvalho, G. B. Mourao

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

For genomic selection to be successful, there must be sufficient linkage disequilibrium between the markers and the causal mutations. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the extent of LD in ovine using the Santa Inês breed and to infer the minimum number of markers required to reach reasonable prediction accuracy. In total, 38,168 SNPs and 395 samples were used. The mean LD between adjacent marker pairs measured by r² and |D′| were 0.166 and 0.617, respectively. LD values between adjacent marker pairs ranged from 0.135 to 0.194 and from 0.568 to 0.650 for r² for |D′| …

Estimates Of Genomic Heritability And Genome-Wide Association Study For Fatty Acids Profile In Santa Inês Sheep, G. A. Rovadoscki, S. F. N. Pertile, A. B. Alvarenga, A. S. M. Cesar, F. Pertille, J. Petrini, V. Franzo, W. V. B. Soares, G. Morota, Matthew L. Spangler, L. F. B. Pinto, G. G. P. Carvalho, D. P. D. Lanna, L. L. Coutinho, G. B. Mourao

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Background: Despite the health concerns and nutritional importance of fatty acids, there is a relative paucity of studies in the literature that report genetic or genomic parameters, especially in the case of sheep populations. To investigate the genetic architecture of fatty acid composition of sheep, we conducted genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and estimated genomic heritabilities for fatty acid profile in Longissimus dorsi muscle of 216 male sheep.

Results: Genomic heritability estimates for fatty acid content ranged from 0.25 to 0.46, indicating that substantial genetic variation exists for the evaluated traits. Therefore, it is possible to alter fatty acid profiles through …

Effect Of Differing Ingredients And Packaging Technologies On The Color Of High-Pressure Processed Ground Beef, Jhinuk Gupta, Chad G. Bower, Gary Sullivan, George A. Cavender

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

High-pressure processing (HPP) is a nonthermal pasteurization technique to control pathogens, like Escherichia coli. However, color changes in raw beef induced by HPP restrict its use within the beef industry. ­e objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of adding curing agents (nitrite) and packaging with or without reducing compounds (ascorbic acid/erythorbate) on color retention in high-pressure processed ground beef. Color was measured (CIE L*a*b*) before HPP and on days 3, 7, 12, 14, 19, and 21 after HPP. Statistical analysis (SAS GLIMMIX) was run to identify the main effects of adding curing agents, packaging, and …

The Impact Of Truncating Data On The Predictive Ability For Single-Step Genomic Best Linear Unbiased Prediction, Jeremy T. Howard, Thomas A. Rathje, Caitlyn E. Bruns, Danielle F. Wilson-Wells, Stephen D. Kachman, Matthew L. Spangler

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Simulated and swine industry data sets were utilized to assess the impact of removing older data on the predictive ability of selection candidate estimated breeding values (EBV) when using single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction (ssGBLUP). Simulated data included thirty replicates designed to mimic the structure of swine data sets. For the simulated data, varying amounts of data were truncated based on the number of ancestral generations back from the selection candidates. The swine data sets consisted of phenotypic and genotypic records for three traits across two breeds on animals born from 2003 to 2017. Phenotypes and genotypes were iteratively …

Do Stronger Measures Of Genomic Connectedness Enhance Prediction Accuracies Across Management Units?, Haipeng Yu, Matthew L. Spangler, Ronald M. Lewis, Gota Morota

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Genetic connectedness assesses the extent to which estimated breeding values can be fairly compared across management units. Ranking of individuals across units based on best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) is reliable when there is a sufficient level of connectedness due to a better disentangling of genetic signal from noise. Connectedness arises from genetic relationships among individuals. Although a recent study showed that genomic relatedness strengthens the estimates of connectedness across management units compared with that of pedigree, the relationship between connectedness measures and prediction accuracies only has been explored to a limited extent. In this study, we examined whether increased …

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Is Associated With Reduced Morbidity And Mortality In Porcine Circovirus Associated Disease, Megan C. Niederwerder, Laura A. Constance, Raymond R. R. Rowland, Waseem Abbas, Samodha C. Fernando, Megan L. Potter, Maureen A. Sheahan, Thomas E. Burkey, Richard A. Hesse, Ada G. Cino-Ozuna

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Porcine circovirus associated disease (PCVAD) is a term used to describe the multifactorial disease syndromes caused by porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV-2), which can be reproduced in an experimental setting through the co-infection of pigs with PCV-2 and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). The resulting PCVAD-affected pigs represent a subpopulation within the co-infected group. In co-infection studies, the presence of increased microbiome diversity is linked to a reduction in clinical signs. In this study, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) was investigated as a means to prevent PCVAD in pigs co-infected with PRRSV and PCV-2d. The sources of the FMT …

Generation Of An Equine Biobank To Be Used For Functional Annotation Of Animal Genomes Project, E. N. Burns, M. H. Bordbari, M. J. Mienaltowski, V. K. Affolter, M. V. Barro, F. Gianino, G. Gianino, E. Giulotto, T. S. Kalbfleisch, S. A. Katzman, M. Lassaline, T. Leeb, M. Mack, E. J. Muller, J. N. Macleod, B. Ming-Whitfield, C. R. Alanis, T. Raudsepp, E. Scott, S. Vig, H. Zhou, J. L. Petersen, R. R. Bellone, C. J. Finno

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The Functional Annotation of Animal Genomes (FAANG) project aims to identify genomic regulatory elements in both sexes across multiple stages of development in domesticated animals. This study represents the first stage of the FAANG project for the horse, Equus caballus. A biobank of 80 tissue samples, two cell lines and six body fluids was created from two adult Thoroughbred mares. Ante-mortem assessments included full physical examinations, lameness, ophthalmologic and neurologic evaluations. Complete blood counts and serum biochemistries were also performed. At necropsy, in addition to tissue samples, aliquots of serum, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) plasma, heparinized plasma, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial …

Energy Balance And Diurnal Variation In Methane Production As Affected By Feeding Frequency In Jersey Cows In Late Lactation, J. V. Judy, G. C. Bachman, T. M. Brown-Brandl, S. C. Fernando, K. E. Hales, P. S. Miller, R. R. Stowell, P. J. Kononoff

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Methane (CH₄) production of ruminants typically increases with increased dry matter intake (DMI). However, few studies have observed the effects of feeding multiple times a day and its effects on diurnal variation in CH₄ production and energy balance in late-lactation dairy cattle. A study using headbox-style indirect calorimetry and 12 multiparous (225 ± 16.2 d in milk; mean ± SD) lactating Jersey cows was conducted to determine the effects of feeding twice daily on diurnal variation in CH₄ production and total energy balance. A crossover design with 14-d periods (10 d of adaption and 4 d …

Function And Dysfunction Of Fatty Acid Mobilization: A Review, Joslyn K. Beard, Travis Mulliniks, Dustin T. Yates

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Western populations have a growing obesity epidemic due in part to excessive nutrient intake from high-fat diets, which are increasingly common. Overindulgence of nutrients is associated with a greater incidence of metabolic dysfunction and a greater risk for obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and other metabolic disorders that lower quality of life. Research in humans and animal models has improved our understanding of how excess circulating free fatty acids negatively impact the ability of muscle and other tissues to regulate nutrient uptake and utilization. It is generally accepted by the scientific community that excess circulating fatty acids lead to insulin resistance, but …

Investigation Of The Skeletal Muscle Transcriptome In Lambs Fed Β Adrenergic Agonists And Subjected To Heat Stress For 21 D, Rachel Kubik, Shauna M. Tietze, Ty B. Schmidt, Dustin Tyler Yates, Jessica Lynn Petersen

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Dietary β-adrenergic agonists (β-AA) are used in livestock to increase muscle protein accretion and decrease adipose deposition during the last 20 to 40 d of the finishing period (Johnson et al., 2014). These β-AA act through specific seven transmembrane receptors and are classified by the receptor isoform to which they primarily bind (Mersmann, 1998). Two β-AA are approved for use in beef cattle in the United States: ractopamine HCl (RAC, β1 agonist) and zilpaterol HCl (ZH, β2 agonist) (Johnson et al., 2014). Supplementation of β-AA increases efficiency of the animal and results in a leaner carcass (Elam et al., 2009). …

Impact Of Pre-And Postpartum Nutrition On March-Calving Cow And Progeny Productivity, Jacki A. Musgrave, Devin L. Broadhead, L. A. Stalker Stalker, Richard N. Funston

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

March-calving cows were fed hay or grazed corn residue prepartum, and then either fed hay or grazed subirrigated meadow postpartum. Combinations of these different feeding strategies impacted body weight (BW) and body condition score (BCS) during the pre-and postpartum period; however, resulted in similar pregnancy rates. Although differences were not observed in cow pregnancy rates, a benefit in pre-weaning growth was observed for calves from the dams in postpartum meadow treatment. A tendency for an improvement in marbling score was observed for steers born to cows fed hay prepartum, perhaps indicating a higher plane of nutrition prepartum may improve quality …

Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Highlights 2017-2018, Jim Jansen, Jeffrey Stokes

Nebraska Farm Real Estate Reports

No abstract provided.

Block And Bridle Annual 2018, Unl Animal Science Block And Bridle 2018 Team

Block and Bridle Annual (1933–2021)

As a club in the department we are very fortunate to have livestock handling facilities on campus and the opportunities to utilize the facility for livestock judging, Little AKSARBEN, and other events held by the club. I would also like to add that in the spring of 2021, the club will have the opportunity to show case the Animal Science Department and the various livestock sectors of Nebraska, by hosting the 101st National Block and Bridle Convention. We have a group of young ladies who are excited to take on the challenge of planning a convention of this magnitude. They …

From A Distance “You Might Mistake Her For A Man”: A Closer Reading Of Gender And Character Action In Jane Eyre, The Law And The Lady, And A Brilliant Woman, Gabrielle Kirilloff, Peter J. Capuano, Julius Fredrick, Matthew L. Jockers

Department of English: Faculty Publications

This research examines and contributes to recent work by Matthew Jockers and Gabi Kirilloff on the relationship between gender and action in the nineteenth-century novel. Jockers and Kirilloff use dependency parsing to extract verb and gendered pronoun pairs (“he said,” “she walked,” etc.). They then build a classification model to predict the gender of a pronoun based on the verb being performed. This present study examines the novels that were categorized as outliers by the classification model to gain a better understanding of the way the observed trends function at the level of individual narratives. We argue that while the …

Wpa News 107 (2018), World Pheasant Association

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Newsletters

WPA News (Winter 2018), number 107

Published by the World Pheasant Association

Effects Of Red Clover Isoflavones On Tall Fescue Seed Fermentation And Microbial Populations In Vitro, Emily A. Melchior, Jason K. Smith, Liesel G. Schneider, Travis Mulliniks, Gary E. Bates, Zachary D. Mcfarlane, Michael D. Flythe, James L. Klotz, Jack P. Goodman, Huihua Ji, Phillip R. Meyer

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

Negative impacts of endophyte-infected Lolium arundinaceum (Darbyshire) (tall fescue) are responsible for over $2 billion in losses to livestock producers annually. While the influence of endophyte-infected tall fescue has been studied for decades, mitigation methods have not been clearly elucidated. Isoflavones found in Trifolium pratense (red clover) have been the subject of recent research regarding tall fescue toxicosis mitigation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of ergovaline and red clover isoflavones on rumen microbial populations, fiber degradation, and volatile fatty acids (VFA) in an in vitro system. Using a dose of 1.10 mg …

Influence Of Invasive Hybrid Cattails On Habitat Use By Common Loons, Spencer L. Wesche, Benjamin J. O'Neal, Steve K. Windels, Bryce T. Olson, Max Larreur, Adam A. Ahlers

United States National Park Service: Publications

An invasive hybrid cattail species, Typha x glauca (T. x glauca), is rapidly expanding across the United States and Canada. Dense clonal stands of T. x glauca outcompete native wetland plants, reduce open-water habitats, and negatively affect native wetland plant diversity; however, effects of hybrid cattail expansions on native wildlife are still unclear. We used multiple surveys and single-season occupancy models to examine how the relative coverage of T. x glauca affected habitat use by common loons (Gavia immer) at 71 wetland sites in Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, USA, during summer 2016. Delineated wetland sites (2 …

Resistance To Deltamethrin In Prairie Dog (Cynomys Ludovicianus) Fleas In The Field And In The Laboratory, David A. Eads, Dean E. Biggins, Jonathan Bowser, Janet C. Mcallister, Randall L. Griebel, Eddie Childers, Travis M. Livieri, Cristi Painter, Lindsey Sterling Krank, Kristy Bly

United States National Park Service: Publications

Sylvatic plague poses a substantial risk to black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) and their obligate predator, the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes). The effects of plague on prairie dogs and ferrets are mitigated using a deltamethrin pulicide dust that reduces the spread of plague by killing fleas, the vector for the plague bacterium. In portions of Conata Basin, Buffalo Gap National Grassland, and Badlands National Park, South Dakota, US, 0.05% deltamethrin has been infused into prairie dog burrows on an annual basis since 2005. We aimed to determine if fleas (Oropsylla hirsuta) in portions of …