A Colorado resident was infected with the plague after a squirrel in the state tested positive for bubonic plague, the first human case in Centennial State since 2015, according to a report.
The unidentified person, who lives in the southwestern section of the state, contracted septic plague earlier this summer and has since recovered, officials confirmed to the Denver Post. The person had had contact with sick squirrels.
Septicemic plague is one of the three main forms of plague: the other forms are bubonic and pneumonic. They are all caused by bacteria called Yersinia pestis that live on some animals, mainly rodents, and their fleas.
Septicemic is the rarest of the plague varieties and is an infection in the blood that can cause the tissues to turn black and die, while the bubonic form causes inflammation and pain in the lymph nodes and the pneumonic form is an infection. severe lung. Bubonic plague is the most common type.
The disease does not spread easily to other people, and no one else was infected, health officials said.
However, experts warned of a “reported increase in plague activity” and cautioned people to avoid handling or feeding rodents and other wildlife.
“While we see the highest plague activity during the summer, the disease can be found in rodents throughout the year and [it] sometimes it spreads to other wildlife species as well as domestic cats and dogs, ”Dr. Jenifer House, Colorado public health veterinarian, said in a statement.
“The plague has been present in Colorado since at least the 1940s, and wild rodent cases are reported in Colorado most years.”
While the infection can be fatal if left untreated, most people recover when they receive antibiotic treatment right away.
Domestic pets such as cats and dogs can also catch plague from infected wildlife, so the health department advised against allowing pets to roam or hunt rodents, according to the report.
Earlier this summer, a squirrel in Jefferson County tested positive for the bubonic plague, which killed more than 50 million people in Africa, Asia, and Europe in the Middle Ages and became known as the “Black Death.”
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