The report of the man's condition came from the Colorado health officials who studied the man and his dog on Tuesday. It was learned that the animal died recently and the death came unexpectedly. The incident has prompted people from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to do some tests on the animal. The result showed that the animal is positive for plague.
The incident was the first recorded case of human infection with pneumonic plague in Colorado since the year 2004. Officials believe that the man and his dog had been exposed to the bacteria in Adams County. There is no news yet on the current condition of the man.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S., the pneumonic plague-causing bacteria are mostly present in western U.S., particularly in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Colorado. Its carriers are the fleas on rodents such as the prairie dogs which are the most common. "People walking in open spaces and trails should avoid contact with rodents," said by the officials from the public health department.
The bacteria in pneumonic plague is the same bacteria found in a person infected with bubonic plague. It is considered as the most serious type of disease and the only one which can be transmitted from one person to another. One way of getting the infection is through the infectious droplets that come out from a person's cough. The other form of life-threatening plague is called "septicemic."
When a person is infected, he experiences weakness, headache, fever, and pneumonia with breath shortness, cough, chest pain, and at times watery or bloody mucous.
The recorded case in Colorado is believed to be extremely rare. From 1900 to 2010, there have been 999 reported plague cases in the US of which 80 percent were categorized to be bubonic in nature.
"Although human cases occur infrequently, plague is severe and potentially life-threatening if not detected and quickly treated with common antibiotics," officials from the health department said.
Health officials are advising people to take the necessary precautions in order to minimize unwanted exposure. The first one deals with avoiding direct contact with rodents particularly the dead ones. Pets should be watched closely and should be kept away from any form of wildlife which includes dead rodents. Pets must be discouraged from hunting prairie dogs and other types of rodents and should not be allowed to roam unsupervised. Pet fleas must be treated following a veterinarian's advice. Lastly, never feed rodents which will make them "linger" in the house.
