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Colorado health officials find dead animals infected with the plague
(U-WIRE) FORT COLLINS - Local health officials have found evidence that the plague and tularemia have been found in dead animals and pets and are alerting the public to use preventative measures to avoid the diseases.

Two pet cats have been diagnosed with the plague in the past two weeks, and a woman died from the plague while visiting the Red Feather Lakes area in August.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been working with the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment in monitoring the plague and other infectious diseases.

So far this year, four feline plague cases have been reported. In 1999, a woman died from the plague in the same area that this year’s human case occurred.

Cats and other animals can be infected with the plague when they kill and eat infected rodents riddled with infected fleas. From that point, pets can transmit the disease to humans through bites, scratches or droplets from their coughs. The bacteria can also be transmitted via the infected fleas themselves, which pets can also bring into domesticated areas.

Bubonic plague, the more common form of the plague, occurs when extreme pain and swelling of the lymph nodes strikes a victim. The groin and armpit region are the most common flea bite locations in humans, according to a press release from the health and environment department.

The bubonic plague is not transmitted person-to-person, but it can spread to the lungs to form pneumonic plague, and the victim’s close contacts can be infected.

Another recent bacteria, tularemia, has been traced to Larimer County in a dead beaver and mouse. A man from Loveland was struck with pneumonia caused by tularemia in August.

Tularemia is another rare occurrence found in Larimer County and infects humans who handle infected animals such as rodents or rabbits or humans who are bit by infected insects, especially ticks and deer flies.

Tularemia is a bacterial disease that can affect humans or animals from insects that have the disease.

Health officials say to take precautions to prevent infections from these diseases.

Using insect repellents, avoiding sick or dead rodents, keeping pets leashed while camping or hiking, and paying close attention to a pet’s health are all preventative measures.

-originally published Nov. 9 in The Rocky Mountain Collegian.

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