Plague germ discovered in park fleas

Panhandle prairie dogs were killed by bacteria

04/26/2001

By David Stevens / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

AMARILLO – Bacteria that officials say could cause bubonic plague in humans has been confirmed as being responsible for the deaths of about 100 prairie dogs at Lake Meredith National Recreation Area in the Texas Panhandle.

No cases of human plague have been reported in the region, but recreation area officials have closed one campground, and Texas Department of Health officials have warned area medical personnel as a precaution.

Lake Meredith officials have also postponed the annual lakeshore cleanup, which was expected to attract about 1,500 volunteers this weekend.

Park superintendent John Benjamin said the campground near the prairie dog community will be closed for six to eight weeks. He said officials will use an insecticide to try to kill fleas in the area.

Health officials urged caution but also said cases of human plague are rare and usually treatable.

"We are just alerting the public that if you do go up in that area, you should wear protective clothing and use insect repellent," said Barry Wilson, a regional epidemiologist for the Texas Department of Health in Lubbock.

Lake Meredith officials noticed last week that their only prairie dog community seemed empty. Health officials suspected a bacterium known as Yersinia pestis may have killed the rodents and began testing fleas found in the area.

One in six fleas tested were positive for the bacteria, according to a Lake Meredith news release. Fleas can transmit the bacteria to humans, which can result in plague.

Bubonic plague was responsible for millions of deaths in Europe during the Middle Ages, but the disease is now treatable with antibiotics in its early stages.

Symptoms are similar to those of the flu.

About 12 cases of human plague are reported each year in the United States, health department statistics show. The last case of human plague in Texas occurred in 1993, a health-department news release said.

David Stevens is a free-lance writer based in Amarillo.

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2001

Answers

Umm yeah, so??

Y. pestis is endemic in a LOT of rodent populations.

General precautions are always to watch out for fleas, ticks etc....

C

-- Anonymous, April 28, 2001

Umm yeah, so?? -- chuck a night driver

We are just alerting the public that if you do go up in that area, you should wear protective clothing and use insect repellent,

Did you forget what these boards are for, or are you just having a bad hair day?

-- Anonymous, April 28, 2001

Sorry, Mrs D and I consider those to be NORMAL precautions in that type of environment.....

yeah we ARE considered a bit odd by the normal folks...

C

but you already KNEW that anyway..

-- Anonymous, April 28, 2001

Thanks Old Git for this article. Wonder how long it will take for the plague to spread my way via the fleas. How I hate to use insecticides on my yard, but I may just have to lay some down. Even though we had a 'hard' winter, my vet told me it would be a bad year for fleas and ticks. Good thing all my animals are indoors. But the doggies gotta go outside sometimes.

BTW - did you know that ticks come out before the fleas? At least that is what the vet told me.

-- Anonymous, April 28, 2001

I wonder what herbs are flea repellents? I know there's one called fleabane. I think we did a thread on that on the old forum. Will have to find it when I'm not so short of time.

-- Anonymous, April 28, 2001