Part of the morning get-ready-for-school and work routine at my house involves TV news playing softly in the background. I thought my ears were playing tricks on me last week when I heard the word "plague" on the news. I was surprised to learn that someone in Colorado had died of the plague. This is a disease that I always associate with the Black Death in Europe in the Middle Ages or various Monty Python sketches. But, plague never really went away because of its tenacious vector- the flea.
Flea bites are the most common route of infection for plague in animals. In the western US several animals test positive for plague every year. Plague even wiped out some prairie dog colonies last year according to Colorado health officials. So humans aren't the only ones who can get plague from fleas- any mammal can contract the disease. And when a flea-infested animal dies from plague the human who happens upon it in his yard and picks it up to move it can be bitten by infected fleas on and around that animal, becoming infected in the process.
Plague can usually be treated if people go to their doctor early in the disease. It has a survival rate of about 90% in those that are treated early, but only about 45% in people who don't get treatment. It is caused by a bacteria, so antibiotics are an important part of treatment. Luckily, plague is not an issue in our southern climate, but it does highlight one more reason for flea control in our pets.
No comments:
Post a Comment