New plague death confirmed in Colorado
By BIANCA SEIDMAN
CBS NEWS
August 5, 2015
For the second time this summer, someone has died of plague in Colorado. Health officials say the latest victim, an adult whose name was not released, may have contracted the disease after being bitten by fleas carried on an infected rodent.
The Pueblo City-County Health Department released a statement confirming the county’s first case of plague since 2004 and expressing condolences to the victim’s family. Officials also sought to raise awareness about how the plague is spread.
“This highlights the importance to protect yourself and your pets from the exposure of fleas that carry plague,” Sylvia Proud, public health director of the Pueblo City-County Health Department, said in the statement.
A dead prairie dog found on the border of Pueblo was confirmed to be have the plague bacterium. Officials say that means there could be more rodents in the area carrying plague-infected fleas. An outbreak of plague often results in noticeable animal die-off. The department is investigating the case with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
In June, a 16-year-old boy died in Larimer County, Colorado, in that county’s first confirmed plague case since 1999.
Modern cases of plague — the disease known as the Black Death in medieval times — are most often found in parts of Africa and Asia and, occasionally, South America and the Western U.S., according to the CDC.
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