Fig 4. Transmission dynamics of O. montana and X. cheopis fleas during a four-week period after a single infectious blood meal.
The number of Y. pestis CFU transmitted by O. montana (A) and X. cheopis (B) fleas by the early-phase (EPT, day 3) and proventricular biofilm-dependent (PBT) mechanisms in three independent experiments. See Tables 1 and 2 for details. (C) Number of Y. pestis CFU transmitted in the early phase (3 days after an infectious blood meal) by O. montana and X. cheopis in 8 independent experiments. Horizontal bars indicate the median. For these 16 EPT experiments, 103 to 202 fleas fed on day 3. The bacteremia level in the infectious blood meals ranged from 1.9 x 108 to 3.0 x109 CFU/ml.