CHEYENNE – Plague infection was recently confirmed in a northeastern Wyoming prairie dog, according to the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH). No human cases have been identified.
The infected prairie dog was discovered in the Converse County area of the Thunder Basin National Grassland. The infection was confirmed by the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory. Local U.S. Forest Service personnel have also described seeing signs of significant prairie dog die-offs.
“Plague is a serious bacterial infection that can be deadly for people and for animals, including pets, if not treated promptly with antibiotics,” said Dr. Alexia Harrist, state epidemiologist and acting state health officer with WDH. “The disease can be transmitted to humans from ill animals and by fleas coming from infected animals.”
“While human plague infections are thankfully rare, we expect the risk for plague exists all around Wyoming,” Harrist said. Six human cases of plague have been confirmed with exposures in Wyoming since 1978; the last one was reported in 2008. There are an average of seven human cases across the nation
each year.