After this article [1] was published, concerns were raised about attribution of some included content.
Fig 1 in [1] is reused from [2], which was published under the CC0 public domain dedication. While the figure title in [1] included a citation to the PLOS Pathogens article (reference 37), the legend did not explain clearly that the figure was reused from the other source. The authors apologize for this issue and provide an updated Fig 1 legend, below.
Fig 1. Transmission cycle of Y. pestis in a plague-endemic community.
This figure was originally published by Ben Ari et al. [37] which was made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. Under favourable environmental conditions, populations of rodent species that are very susceptible to plague infection (T. leucogaster and Mastomys coucha) increase to high levels [38]. If these population increases occur in an area where there is a quiescent plague focus, the plague may break out in the susceptible rodent population. In plague-endemic areas, this population increase is crucial in plague transmission because a large number of mice and rats correspond to a large number of fleas [38]. Plague kills the susceptible rodents, and their infected fleas leave the carcass and seek new hosts, thereby spreading the infection rapidly throughout areas of high population.
In addition, some of the text in [1] overlaps with previously published work. This includes the following text excerpts for which we provide the relevant citations with this notice:
The “Fleas as Vectors of Plague: Transmission of Plague” section includes text that overlaps with [3]: “The disease is considered…considered to be potential vectors of the disease.”
The “Persistence of Plague in the Soil” section includes text that overlaps with [4]: “Y. pestis can survive in the soil … unlikely under natural conditions.”
In the “Plague in Southern Africa” section, the majority of text in the following excerpt overlaps with [7]: “The distribution of human plague in Southern Africa…roles in the plague cycle.”
The first two sentences of the “Climate and plague in Zimbabwe” section overlap with [8].
References
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