In 2013, a large blinded, paired placebo-controlled field trial for the prairie dog oral sylvatic plague vaccine started in the Western US. On 17 paired plots, vaccine and placebo plots, small rodents were trapped annually for 3-5 consecutive nights (when weather allowed) and high elevation Utah plots where plague was active were more frequently trapped in 2014 and 2015. In the dataset the prevalence of flea infestation was recorded for the first annual summer sampling, it was summarized for all small rodent species caught and deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). Infestations were either for all flea species collected or for Aetheca wagneri only (our most abundant flea species). We used this data to assess if plague (Y. pestis) presence increased the prevalence of flea infestations on small rodents and deer mice. Fleas were collected after animals were anesthetized with isoflurane.

These data were collected as part of a field trial to test the efficacy of a sylvatic plague vaccine (see Rocke et al., 2017 for details). Vaccine and control plots were selected randomly from the available sites at each location. At least 1 week and no more than 2 months post-baiting each year, local collaborators captured, marked and sampled prairie dogs for a minimum of 3 trap days. Both plots in a pair were trapped on the same day, and trap effort (number of traps and trap days) between plots of the same pair was similar with few exceptions. Fleas were collected from up to 50 unique prairie dogs from each plot each year. Sex, age, weight, and foot length were recorded for each captured animal. In the laboratory, fleas were identified to species and then pooled by species and sex. Flea pools were tested for the presence of Yersinia pestis using standard or real time PCR. Environmental factors describing temperature and precipitation were obtained from USGS and NOAA databases for each plot at the time of sampling.

These data were collected as part of a field trial to test the efficacy of a sylvatic plague vaccine (see Rocke et al., 2017 for details). Vaccine and control plots were selected randomly from the available sites at each location. At least 1 week and no more than 2 months post-baiting each year, local collaborators captured, marked and sampled prairie dogs for a minimum of 3 trap days. Both plots in a pair were trapped on the same day, and trap effort (number of traps and trap days) between plots of the same pair was similar with few exceptions. Fleas were collected from up to 50 unique prairie dogs from each plot each year. Sex, age, weight, and foot length were recorded for each captured animal. In the laboratory, fleas were identified to species and then pooled by species and sex. Flea pools were tested for the presence of Yersinia pestis using standard or real time PCR. Environmental factors describing temperature and precipitation were obtained from USGS and NOAA databases for each plot at the time of sampling.

We studied black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) on the Conata Basin, Buffalo Gap National Grassland, South Dakota, USA, 2007-2009. We live-trapped and sampled prairie dogs in 2007 (before known invasion of the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis), 2008 (the year of confirmed invasion), and 2009 (after invasion). Sampling was completed on three 9-ha plots treated annually with deltamethrin dust for flea (Y. pestis-vector) control and three 9-ha plots lacking flea control (non-dusted) as baselines. Each live-trapped prairie dog was marked with ear tags for permanent identification and tracking of survival. If a marked prairie dog was recaptured and identified (via ear tags) the following year, the prairie dog was classifed as a surviving individual (commonly referred to as "apparent" survival). If a marked prairie dog was not recaptured the following year, the prairie dog was classified as a non-surviving individual. In 2007 and 2008, approximately half the adult prairie dogs live-trapped were injected subcutaneously with either an experimental F1-V fusion plague vaccine or placebo formulation; the remaining adult prairie dogs and all juveniles were not inoculated. In 2007 and 2008, we anesthetized subsets of prairie dogs on the dusted and non-dusted plots with isoflurane and combed them with a fine-tooth comb for 30 seconds to remove and count fleas. We analyzed subsets of data to evaluate (1) effects of vaccination (vaccine/placebo) and deltamethrin dust (dusted/non-dusted) on adult prairie dog survival for individuals injected with vaccine or placebo, (2) effects of vaccination on adult prairie dog survival on the plots treated with deltamethrin dusting specifically, and (3) effects of deltamethrin dust on non-injected adult and juvenile prairie dog survival. The data file is named Prairie_Dog_F1-V_Vaccine_DeltaDust_Data.xlsx. The first sheet (AdultsVxPcbDust01-2007-2008) includes data on adult prairie dog annual survival, 2007-2008, for individuals injected with vaccine or placebo on the dusted and non-dusted plots. Each line of data is for an individual prairie dog. Variables include Interval (2007-2008), Injection (Vaccine or Placebo), DeltaDust (1=dusted, 0=non-dusted), Age (prairie dog age, adult), Sex (prairie dog sex, female or male), and SurviveInterval (a binomial variable for whether or not the prairie dog survived the 2007-2008 interval). The second sheet (AdultsVxPcbDusted-2007-2009) includes data on adult prairie dog annual survival for individuals injected with vaccine or placebo on the dusted plots only, 2007-2009. Each line of data is for an individual prairie dog. Variables include Interval (2007-2008, 2008-2009), Injection (Vaccine or Placebo), DeltaDust (1=dusted), Age (prairie dog age, adult), Sex (prairie dog sex, female or male), and SurviveInterval (a binomial variable for whether or not the prairie dog survived the 2007-2008 and/or 2008-2009 intervals). The third sheet (NoInjectionDust01-2007-2008) includes data on non-injected adult and juvenile prairie dog annual survival on the dusted and non-dusted plots, 2007-2008. Each line of data is for an individual prairie dog. Variables include Interval (2007-2008), Injection (None), DeltaDust (1=dusted, 0 = non-dusted), Age (prairie dog age, adult or juvenile), Sex (prairie dog sex, female or male), and SurviveInterval (a binomial variable for whether or not the prairie dog survived the 2007-2008 interval). The fourth and final sheet (FleasDust01-2007-2008) includes data on prairie dog flea parasitism on the dusted and non-dusted plots, 2007-2008. Each line of data is for an individual prairie dog. Variables include Year (2007 or 2008), JulianDay (Julian day of year), DeltaDust (1=dusted, 0 = non-dusted), Age (prairie dog age, adult or juvenile), Sex (prairie dog sex, female or male), and Fleas (the number of fleas detected on the individual prairie dog).

We studied black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) on the Conata Basin, Buffalo Gap National Grassland, South Dakota, USA, 2007-2009. We live-trapped and sampled prairie dogs in 2007 (before known invasion of the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis), 2008 (the year of confirmed invasion), and 2009 (after invasion). Sampling was completed on three 9-ha plots treated annually with deltamethrin dust for flea (Y. pestis-vector) control and three 9-ha plots lacking flea control (non-dusted) as baselines. Each live-trapped prairie dog was marked with ear tags for permanent identification and tracking of survival. If a marked prairie dog was recaptured and identified (via ear tags) the following year, the prairie dog was classifed as a surviving individual (commonly referred to as "apparent" survival). If a marked prairie dog was not recaptured the following year, the prairie dog was classified as a non-surviving individual. In 2007 and 2008, approximately half the adult prairie dogs live-trapped were injected subcutaneously with either an experimental F1-V fusion plague vaccine or placebo formulation; the remaining adult prairie dogs and all juveniles were not inoculated. In 2007 and 2008, we anesthetized subsets of prairie dogs on the dusted and non-dusted plots with isoflurane and combed them with a fine-tooth comb for 30 seconds to remove and count fleas. We analyzed subsets of data to evaluate (1) effects of vaccination (vaccine/placebo) and deltamethrin dust (dusted/non-dusted) on adult prairie dog survival for individuals injected with vaccine or placebo, (2) effects of vaccination on adult prairie dog survival on the plots treated with deltamethrin dusting specifically, and (3) effects of deltamethrin dust on non-injected adult and juvenile prairie dog survival. The data file is named Prairie_Dog_F1-V_Vaccine_DeltaDust_Data.xlsx. The first sheet (AdultsVxPcbDust01-2007-2008) includes data on adult prairie dog annual survival, 2007-2008, for individuals injected with vaccine or placebo on the dusted and non-dusted plots. Each line of data is for an individual prairie dog. Variables include Interval (2007-2008), Injection (Vaccine or Placebo), DeltaDust (1=dusted, 0=non-dusted), Age (prairie dog age, adult), Sex (prairie dog sex, female or male), and SurviveInterval (a binomial variable for whether or not the prairie dog survived the 2007-2008 interval). The second sheet (AdultsVxPcbDusted-2007-2009) includes data on adult prairie dog annual survival for individuals injected with vaccine or placebo on the dusted plots only, 2007-2009. Each line of data is for an individual prairie dog. Variables include Interval (2007-2008, 2008-2009), Injection (Vaccine or Placebo), DeltaDust (1=dusted), Age (prairie dog age, adult), Sex (prairie dog sex, female or male), and SurviveInterval (a binomial variable for whether or not the prairie dog survived the 2007-2008 and/or 2008-2009 intervals). The third sheet (NoInjectionDust01-2007-2008) includes data on non-injected adult and juvenile prairie dog annual survival on the dusted and non-dusted plots, 2007-2008. Each line of data is for an individual prairie dog. Variables include Interval (2007-2008), Injection (None), DeltaDust (1=dusted, 0 = non-dusted), Age (prairie dog age, adult or juvenile), Sex (prairie dog sex, female or male), and SurviveInterval (a binomial variable for whether or not the prairie dog survived the 2007-2008 interval). The fourth and final sheet (FleasDust01-2007-2008) includes data on prairie dog flea parasitism on the dusted and non-dusted plots, 2007-2008. Each line of data is for an individual prairie dog. Variables include Year (2007 or 2008), JulianDay (Julian day of year), DeltaDust (1=dusted, 0 = non-dusted), Age (prairie dog age, adult or juvenile), Sex (prairie dog sex, female or male), and Fleas (the number of fleas detected on the individual prairie dog).

Oral sylvatic plague vaccine baits (SPV) and placebo baits were distributed once annually from 2013-2016 on treated and non-treated paired plots from 2013-2016. Black-tailed prairie dogs (BTPD) were live-trapped and permanently marked with passive integrated transponders and ear tags on 4 pairs of plots each year from 2013-2017 to provide capture/recapture data for use in estimating BTPD survival. The first data set (CMR_SPV_RAW_CAPTURE_DATA.csv) lists all captures and associated covariates with each line representing data from a single prairie dog. The second data set (CMR_BTPD_WEIGHTS.csv) lists the weight and associated information for each prairie dog at each handling. The third data set (CMR_FLEAS_BY_HOST.csv) lists the number of fleas collected from each prairie dog at each handling. Funding was provided through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, multiple USGS sources, grants from the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks and World Wildlife Fund.

Oral sylvatic plague vaccine baits (SPV) and placebo baits were distributed once annually from 2013-2016 on treated and non-treated paired plots from 2013-2016. Black-tailed prairie dogs (BTPD) were live-trapped and permanently marked with passive integrated transponders and ear tags on 4 pairs of plots each year from 2013-2017 to provide capture/recapture data for use in estimating BTPD survival. The first data set (CMR_SPV_RAW_CAPTURE_DATA.csv) lists all captures and associated covariates with each line representing data from a single prairie dog. The second data set (CMR_BTPD_WEIGHTS.csv) lists the weight and associated information for each prairie dog at each handling. The third data set (CMR_FLEAS_BY_HOST.csv) lists the number of fleas collected from each prairie dog at each handling. Funding was provided through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, multiple USGS sources, grants from the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks and World Wildlife Fund.

These data were collected as part of a field trial to test the efficacy of a sylvatic plague vaccine. Treatment and control sites were selected randomly from the available sites at each location. Site pairs were a minimum of 20 acres, (with a few exceptions). Prairie dog trapping took place a minimum of two weeks post-baiting and trapping procedures were approved by the NWHC Animal Care and Use Committee as well as individual states as required.

These data were collected as part of a field trial to test the efficacy of a sylvatic plague vaccine. Treatment and control sites were selected randomly from the available sites at each location. Site pairs were a minimum of 20 acres, (with a few exceptions). Prairie dog trapping took place a minimum of two weeks post-baiting and trapping procedures were approved by the NWHC Animal Care and Use Committee as well as individual states as required.

Data on the occurrence of plague epizootics in colonies of black-tailed prairie dogs, Pawnee National Grassland, Colorado 1982-2005. Data are derived from annual prairie dog surveys conducted by staff of the Pawnee National Grassland, U.S. Forest Service. The data includes information on the year of sampling, colony identification, UTM coordinates of colony centroids, weather (precipitation and temperature), colony area, soil moisture-holding capacity, connectivity among colonies, and the occurrence of plague epizootics. Data provided by M.F. Antolin and L.T. Savage, Colorado State University, supported by the National Science Foundation (DEB-9616044, DEB-0217631, DEB-0823405, EF-0327052), the U.S. Forest Service, Pawnee National Grassland, U.S. Agricultural Research Service, Central Plains Experimental Range.