Apr 27, 2007 8:29 am US/Mountain
Dead Squirrel Near Denver City Park Had Plague
DENVER (AP) ―
A dead tree squirrel found near City Park east of downtown Denver tested positive for bubonic plague, according to reports.
Workers with the Colorado Health Department tested the squirrel's carcass found Wednesday and preliminary results were positive, according to local broadcast reports. A person near the park noticed several dead squirrels in the neighborhood and reported the die off to Denver Animal Control.
Plague is found among rodent populations, including prairie dogs, in suburban and rural areas of Colorado every year, but experts say it is unusual to find the disease in the center of a city.
Plague, caused by a bacterium, is transmitted from rodent to rodent by infected fleas. Humans can catch the disease through scratches, bites and coughs.
Symptoms in humans include high fever, fatigue, weakness and a painful, swollen lymph node, typically under the armpit, in the groin area or in the neck. The disease can be treated with antibiotics if recognized early.
Since plague was rediscovered in the Colorado in 1957, state health officials said there have been 58 human cases, with nine of those cases being fatal.
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