Bubonic Plague in Arizona Prairie Dogs

Well I learn something everyday, I stumbled upon this article discussing a recent discovery of bubonic plague in the Flagstaff area of Arizona.

It is affecting prairie dogs and what was surprising to me was that it seems to be a common killer of the animal. The article states that no human cases have been reported since 1996, but it posts some warnings and preventative measures to take to protect yourself and your animals from this disease, so I am posting it for the members in the area just in case they haven't seen this news.

Bubonic plaque found in Flagstaff wildlife

FLAGSTAFF - Health officials in Coconino County are warning the public to avoid contact with wild animals and to treat their pets for fleas after the discovery of bubonic plague in a Flagstaff suburb.

Two prairie dogs were found dead last month in Doney Park northeast of the city, prompting officials to test for plague in the area. After collecting fleas from the animals' burrows, testing at a lab at Northern Arizona University confirmed the presence of the disease.

ED: Soften title

[edit on 2007/8/12 by JacKatMtn]

There is always bubonic plague in prairie dogs somewhere, Jack. There are signs at the Garden of the Gods in Manitou Springs, Colorado that state something to the effect "do not touch sick or dead animals as prairie dogs can be infected with bubonic plague".

Those signs have been there for at least a decade.

[edit on 8-12-2007 by Valhall]

Thanks for the info Val, from reading the article I went from shocked to "wow, I didn't realize that it was still a common disease."

It wouldn't be surprising to see that I am the only one here who hasn't heard of bubonic plague in the US.

I won't be so shocked next time ...lol

"on to the next cup of coffee............"

The bubonic plague will wipe out whole Prairie dog towns. Rule is, if your dog town disappears stay clear of it for the fleas will be on top of the mound looking for a host.

There was a kid in Cimarron county that got the plague a few years ago, antibiotics fixed him up.

Roper

Well, wasn't the recent big fiasco in Lawton over the fact they were trying to remove all the prairie dogs in the city park because some of them had the plague? Then they tried one of those gopher-getter vacuum trucks to suck the prairie dogs out of the holes and transport them to a new location but it was sucking them up so hard it was killing them and then all the bleeding-heart prairie dog advocates pitched a fit.

So then they just poisoned them all and now I think there's a major stink about that.

Hate to say it but its a very old story. There was a plague outbreak back in the late 70's when I was vagabonding through the region. Seems the prairie dog and its euroasian cousins are a natural reservoir for them.

Originally posted by Valhall
Well, wasn't the recent big fiasco in Lawton over the fact they were trying to remove all the prairie dogs in the city park because some of them had the plague? Then they tried one of those gopher-getter vacuum trucks to suck the prairie dogs out of the holes and transport them to a new location but it was sucking them up so hard it was killing them and then all the bleeding-heart prairie dog advocates pitched a fit.

So then they just poisoned them all and now I think there's a major stink about that.

I can remember the "fit throwing" but I didn't know they were sick dogs.

As far as "bleeding-heart prairie dog advocates", me no likey.

Roper

There was a recent outbreak of plague in squirrels in Colorado.
First in Boulder and then in the City Park in Denver.
It goes in cycles..if its very damp, then there are many fleas and the fleas bring the plague. If its extremely dry and hot, it kills the fleas.

Thats disturbing. I didn't even know the plaque still existed! Though, as contagious as it is, how aren't more people becoming infected w/ this disease? Seriously, it killed off about 1/3 of Europe.

Originally posted by Saturn
Thats disturbing. I didn't even know the plaque still existed! Though, as contagious as it is, how aren't more people becoming infected w/ this disease? Seriously, it killed off about 1/3 of Europe.

We try not to live with vermin, hygiene is taught, I shoot prairie dogs,etc.

Roper

I don't know about that. I've seen some people's houses that looked like they needed to be condemned b/c of all of the filth both inside and out. And also people's houses where they own like 6 dogs but seem to have never heard of flea shampoo. There are people like that all over the country, yet this disease has never affected any of them.

As to the question of why the plague doesn't sweep through our population as it did during the Middle Ages-- one reason is because we are the descendants of those who survived, and we have inherited a certain lack of susceptibility, or perhaps resistance, to it that those that succumbed to it by the millions (after two separate epidemics, and other smaller outbreaks in the 14th and 15th centuries some counts run as high as 75 million dead) did not have. Over all, our population today enjoys much better food, health care, sanitation than the population had in those days, resulting on the whole in stronger immune systems on average-- after all, back when the plague took so many lives people threw their sewage directly into the streets. People died regularly from lack of dental care. It's a whole new world. With new problems and new diseases certainly, but I don't think we have to worry so much about the plague, at least. _javascript:icon('')