Seven US counties under plague warning as experts say prairie dogs are good indicator of outbreak
Health authorities in Colorado are warning residents in seven counties to be on guard against the re-emergence of plague in the region.
Though not nearly as fatal as it was in medieval times – when it killed an estimated 50 million people – the disease can still be deadly in the modern era. This year's bout of plague has already killed a 10-year-old girl in the state.
The plague returns to Colorado every summer, generally carried by fleas before being passed along to small animals and in some generally rare cases, humans. This year, San Miguel County, El Paso County, Boulder County, Huerfano County, Adams County and La Plate County have all reported cases of the plague.
The girl who died reportedly raised hogs, according to The Durango Herald. It is not known definitively whether fleas leapt from her hogs to her and passed along the infection.
Health authorities began scrambling to collect and test fleas after a group of Coloradans reported that a local prairie dog colony had disappeared, according to The Colorado Sun.
The Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment notes that prairie dogs are especially susceptible to plague. Whenever a population of the animals goes silent during the summer, it is a warning to Colorado health authorities that plague has potentially returned.
The CDPHE has asked Coloradans not to kill the rodents, as it could increase the risk of transmitting the plague.
“If you notice decreased rodent activity in an area where you normally see active rodents, contact your local public health agency,” the CDPHE said.
Plague can be transmitted to a human through the bite of an infected flea or through direct contact with infected animals.
Plague can be difficult to pinpoint initially, as its symptoms are similar to other illnesses, like the flu or the coronavirus. The infected may develop a cough, fever and swollen lymph nodes.
Thankfully, if the plague is caught early, it can be treated with available medicine. If left untreated, however, it can cause further illnesses and death.
On average, seven humans become infected with the plague each year, and the infections are generally located in New Mexico and Colorado.
Plague – sometimes called the “Black Death” – is believed to have arrived in the Americas by way of rats that had infested steam ships travelling between Asia and North America.
Once the ships moored in American harbours, the rats would sneak off and begin to spread the disease.
Today, the plague is almost entirely contained within a rural region of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado.
Reference: Independent: Graig Graziosi
Articles - Latest
- NEW ORLEANS R&B SINGER CLARENCE ‘FROGMAN’ HENRY DIES AGED 87
- ALBERT ‘TOOTIE’ HEATH OBITUARY
- AMERICAN-BORN FORMER SUMO CHAMPION AKEBONO DIES AGED 54
- WEIGHT LOSS INFLUENCER MILA DE JESUS DIES AGE 35
- CYNTHIA WEIL OBITUARY
- NORMAN BEDDINGTON OBITUARY
- OJ SIMPSON DIES AGED 76 SURROUNDED BY HIS FAMILY
- DJ MISTER CEE DEAD AT 57
- JON CARD | PUNK DRUMMER FOR ACTS SUCH AS DOA AND PERSONALITY CRISIS, HAS DIED AGED 63
- CECIL L. 'CHIP' MURRAY, INFLUENTIAL PASTOR AND CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER IN LOS ANGELES, DIES
- CHRISTOPHER DURANG DIES AT 75: TONY-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT AND SATIRIST HAS PASSED AWAY
- THE WALLFLOWERS' GUITARIST MICHAEL WARD DIES AGED 57 JUST DAYS BEFORE NEXT PERFORMANCE
- SOUTH AFRICAN FOOTBALL STAR SHOT DEAD IN HIJACKING
- SOLAR ECLIPSE 2024: WATCH LIVE AS RARE EVENT PLUNGES MILLIONS INTO DARKNESS IN INCREDIBLE SIGHT
- ON THE PLANE OF SELF CONSCIOUSNESS - VIII - COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS
- MAHAMUDRA PRACTICE OF THE KAGYUPAS - MILAREPA
- THE TANTRIC APPROACH - MILAREPA
- THE HUMAN CONDITION - CONTEMPLATION AND THE DIVINE THERAPY-7
- LOUIS GOSSETT JR, THE FIRST BLACK MAN TO WIN BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR OSCAR, DIES AGED 87
- THE 1.6 MILLION-YEAR-OLD DISCOVERY THAT CHANGES WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT HUMAN EVOLUTION
- WILLIAM AND ROYAL FAMILY GATHER FOR PRIVATE FUNERAL OF THOMAS KINGSTON
- SCIENTISTS REVEAL PERFECTLY PRESERVED DINOSAUR EMBRYO FOUND INSIDE FOSSILIZED EGG (PHOTO)
- SAXOPHONIST CASEY BENJAMIN, WHO PLAYED WITH KENDRICK LAMAR AND BEYONCÉ, DIES AGED 46
Articles - Most Read
- Main
- Contact Us
- The science behind Ouija boards
- Cosmic Consciousness - What is Cosmic Consciousness-2
- Cosmic Consciousness-Introduction
- Cosmic Consciousness - Introduction-2
- MASSIVE 6.1 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE HITS NEW ZEALAND AS NATION STILL REELING FROM CYCLONE
- ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNRAVEL THE TRUTH OF APHRODITE, GODDESS OF LOVE, ON VALENTINE'S DAY
- The Human Condition-Thomas Keating
- Cosmic Consciousness First Words - 1V - 2
- Cosmic Consciousness First Words - V -
- Cosmic Consciousness V - 2
- Cosmic consciousness - First Words - IV
- Cosmic Consciousness - What is Cosmic Consciousness?
- Evolution and Devolution-Chapter 2
- The Human Condition - Thomas keating-3
- The Human Condition-2-Thomas Keating
- Drinking From The Mountain Stream - Milarepa
- Cosmic Consciousness-On the Plane of Self Consciousness
- The Human Condition - 4
- Cosmic Consciousness - 3 - On the Plane of Self Consciousness
- Evolution and Devolution-Chapter 1
- The Human Condition - 6
- Shakyamuni Buddha or India the 1st “Black Revolutionary Hero.”
- On the Plane of Self Consciousness - 2
- Milarepa's World
- The Human Condition - 5
- Milarepa's World-2
- The Buddhist System of Liberation
- On the Plane of Self Consciousness IV
- Contemplation and the Divine Therapy - 2
- JERRY RAWLINGS, GHANAIAN STRONG MAN WHO CAME TO POWER IN A COUP BUT INTRODUCED DEMOCRACY – OBITUARY
- The Buddhist System of Liberation - 2
- On the Plane of Self Consciousness IV - 2