Current status The plague remains the most dangerous infectious disease for humanity. More than 2,000 cases of human disease are annually registered in the world according to WHO [Plague, WHO, 2009]. Natural foci of plague occupy 1.1 million. km² of the Kazakhstan territory, where sporadic human infection is registered. The main plague reservoir in the most active and largest centers is Rhombomys opimus Licht; and flea-vectors.

Although plague foci of northern deserts have been continuously active in the 70-80s of the last century, their activity has decreased in recent years (Atlas of Bacterial and Virus Zoonotic Infections Distribution in Kazakhstan, 2010).

On the contrary, there was a tendency to increasing of enzootic area and growth of epidemic danger in the southern regions in the 2000-2012. Expanding the boundaries of the natural focus is noticeable towards the steppe zone in the center and east of Kazakhstan. Epizootics of plague appeared in a number of areas in the Almaty region and in the Caspian region in 2000-2002 after a break of ten years.

Expanding the boundaries of plague foci may occur due to aridity during warming. However, the general laws that determine the features of plague spreading in terms of global warming are not established yet.

Successful monitoring of the plague foci under conditions of climate change requires knowledge not only of the spatial heterogeneity of foci, but also the analysis of abiotic and biotic factors. Finding factors that determine the features of the spread of the plague microbe in relation to climate and biocenosis change has great importance not only for the prediction but also for study of the evolution of Y. pestis and its hosts and for the prospects for existence of foci in the space and time.

It is clear that on the huge territories of the plague foci in Central Asia the elimination of them using the current methods is impossible. Today, "limiting" the plague is carried out by large-scale disinfestation and deratization around the settlements with the use of preparations toxic to humans and domestic animals. Moreover, these treatments should be done on a regular base (annually).

Search of "sanitation" options of relatively small areas is required. It’s linked with the need to develop new methods to reduce the risks of human infection in small villages on the territory of foci as well as popular tourist natural sites.

The emphasis should be on the search for nontrivial ecological and economical methods. One of the methods of creation of “ecological barriers” to limit the spreading of carrier-rodents could be based on environmental changes (including planting of trees and shrubs with the advice of experts). The best place for testing is the Charyn Canyon (a popular tourist object) located 200 km from Almaty. The most visited place of the canyon is relatively small: length of about 2 km, width – below 80 m.

Under the project there will be tested the possibility of using drones - unmanned aerial vehicles for epizootological inspection of plague natural foci area. It will provide detailed information on searching and determining the density of Rhombomys opimus colonies, and other vectors of Yersinia pestis, and enables to control studied area of Rhombomys opimus colonies and occurrence of other reservoir species in the studied area.