Colorado has grown a lot over the past decade. But one thing that the state can't seem to shake is the plague.
Yes,
the plague. The Black Death. The disease responsible for killing 30 to 60 percent of Europe's population in the 1300s.
Believe it or not, there is usually at least one plague incident in Colorado every year. Sometimes, these incidents involve humans and can even be fatal. But most of the time, plague outbreaks are limited to household pets.
The plague -- known by the scientific name
Yersinia pestis -- is primarily transmitted through fleas. Those fleas can live on the backs of rats, mice, or even prairie dogs. The latter is responsible for practically all plague outbreaks in Colorado.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife have been
teaming up with local universities to come up with vaccines and treatments to prevent the plague from infecting healthy colonies. While those vaccines are showing a lot of progress and could one day rid the state of the disease, it is still important to exercise caution, especially if you are going to be spending a lot of time outdoors this summer in open space.
Here are seven tips that health officials recommend to keep your summer plague-free.
Stay away from prairie dogs.
Sure, they're cute. When I first moved to Colorado, I was absolutely perplexed by these little rodents. There was a colony just outside my apartment and on summer afternoons, I would sit on my balcony and just listen to them chirping at each other.
Then, the notice came in the mail. The apartment complex had tested the colonies for the bubonic plague and, while there were no positive tests, they were taking steps to relocate the prairie dogs out of an abundance of caution.
The fleas that carry the plague are, by body weight, the second best jumpers in the animal kingdom. Do yourself a favor and stay away from prairie dogs.
Don't feed prairie dogs, rabbits, or wild rodents.
This should go without saying, but the last thing anyone wants is to train disease-carrying animals to treat human beings as a food source. Please do not feed wild rodents. That includes keeping your trash cans clean and only putting them outside the night before or, better yet, the morning of trash collection.
Wear bug repellant that includes DEET.
Growing up, there were plenty of warnings to stay away from
bug repellants that include DEET. But this is still the only type of bug spray recommended to repel plague-carrying fleas. So if you are going to be walking through tall grass in prairie dog territory, make sure you apply the bug spray as a precaution.
Wear the proper attire.
In the same vein as bug spray, you can stop fleas from feasting on your legs by tucking your pants into your socks when walking through tall grass and wearing closed-toe shoes. The last thing you'd want to do is walk through a prairie dog colony in shorts and sandals ...
Get your pets flea preventative treatments.
If you have a dog or cat that spends significant time outdoors, you should consider getting them a flea and tick preventatives like
Frontline.
Keep an eye on your dog at all times.
If you are taking your dog out into open space, consider keeping him or her on a leash. If you see a sickly or dead animal, do not let your dog go anywhere near it. Late last year, veterinarians at CSU were
forced to euthanize a dog that got the plague from a diseased animal.
If your pet gets sick, take them to a vet immediately.
The last thing pet owners want is an expensive vet bill. But if your dog or cat starts to come down with an illness -- especially if they spend a lot of time outside -- take them to the vet. While it is incredibly difficult to treat animals with the plague, it is possible if the disease is caught early enough.
The plague has an incubation period of between two and six days. If at anytime you suspect that you may have come down with the disease, seek out medical treatment immediately.
All in all, plague outbreaks in Colorado are incredibly rare. The odds of coming down with the disease are in the same realm as being struck by lightning or eaten by a shark. But it is still a good idea to exercise caution when spending time outdoors, just as you wouldn't run outside with a metal pole during a storm or jump into shark-infested waters at sundown ...
